Soccer star Alex gets Strictly boot
Judge Shirley swings axe after dance-off
ALEX Scott was shown the red card by Strictly Come Dancing judges last night, failing to be selected for the upcoming semi-final.
The football pundit was beaten by the narrowest of margins in the danceoff by comedian Chris Ramsey.
Show judges were split down the middle, with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse picking Alex and Neil Jones’ upbeat samba routine, while Bruno Tonioli and Shirley Ballas liked Chris and Karen Hauer’s foxtrot.
The result meant that head judge Shirley had the deciding vote – controversially allowing Chris to stay in the contest. Former Arsenal and England star Alex, 35, was proud to have made it all the way to the quarter-finals.
She said: “I’ve loved every moment and I have to thank everyone.
“I’ve literally lived out another dream. I had football and then this chapter.
“I have to thank my dancer partner, he’s incredible. I’m proud of the whole process, I’m proud of the struggle and I’m proud that people got to see me.”
Neil said he’d felt so lucky this year to be given a partner, having been on standby last time. He told Alex: “And I got you, you were the best. You were so good. She’s taught me so much.”
While Strictly won 9.4 million viewers and peaked with 10.4 million on Saturday evening, ITV’s The X Factor: Celebrity final attracted just 2.6 million as ex-TOWIE star Megan McKenna was named winner, with 46% of the vote. The 27-year-old said she is “living the dream and can’t explain how excited I am”.
The inaugural series of X Factor: Celebrity launched in October with an average of
4.8 million viewers – down on the 5.5 million who watched Dalton Harris win The X Factor in 2018.
Simon Cowell had hoped to halt the franchise’s demise with two new versions – Celebrity and All Stars, featuring previous
WINNER X Factor Celeb star Megan McKenna contestants. But Celebrity has flopped and the latter had to be scrapped when not enough former winners could be persuaded to take part. Now Cowell is rushing through a modern-day version of Popstars: The Rivals, called X Factor: The Band. Instead of airing on Saturday nights, the four-part ITV show can be seen across one week, from Monday, December 9.
■ The four remaining Strictly couples will battle it out on BBC One on Saturday, at 7pm. The final is on December 14.