Highlights
- Bethany Antonia and her professional partner, Nancy Xu, became the sixth couple to leave Strictly Come Dancing after a split judges' vote on Sunday 8 November
- They were joint fourth on the judges' leaderboard with 30 points for their foxtrot, but still ended up in the dance-off for the third time
- Head judge Shirley Ballas used the deciding vote to save Love Island winner Cach Mercer and his partner, Maddie Ingoldsby
- They were the only same-sex pairing in this year's series
BETHANY ANTONIA, the House of the Dragon actress who plays dragon-rider Lady Baela Targaryen, has left Strictly Come Dancing, a day after scoring one of the highest marks of her run.
Who left Strictly Come Dancing on 8 November 2026?
Antonia and Xu became the sixth couple to be eliminated from the 2026 series, after losing a dance-off to Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby. With 15 couples at the start, they finished in 10th place.
How did the Strictly dance-off vote go?
The couples danced again on Sunday. Antonia and Xu reprised their foxtrot to Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love", while Mercer and Ingoldsby danced their waltz to "That Ain't You". Judge Anton Du Beke chose to save Mercer and Ingoldsby, and Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood voted to save Antonia and Xu. That left the decision with head judge Shirley Ballas, who cast the deciding vote for Mercer and Ingoldsby.
Why was a joint-fourth couple in the bottom two?
That is the question viewers are asking. On Saturday, the foxtrot scored 30 points, putting Antonia and Xu joint fourth on the leaderboard before the public vote was counted. Mercer and Ingoldsby had scored 26, joint bottom. The public vote, though, left Antonia and Xu in the dance-off for the third time.
Fans were divided. "Bethany and Nancy were improving, what a shame," one wrote. Others thought it was the right call, pointing out that the pair had been lucky to survive the previous week's dance-off.
What did Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu say after leaving?
Speaking afterwards, Antonia said she "had a feeling" it would be her turn to go, and told viewers to vote for the couples they want to save. Xu said: "People will always remember Bethany Antonia." The couple will talk through their Strictly journey with Ellie Taylor on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday 9 November on BBC Two and iPlayer.
What was Bethany Antonia's Strictly journey?
She danced seven times. Her series began with a quickstep to Celeste's "Stop This Flame", which scored 26. Her lowest score was 25, for an Argentine tango. She peaked at 30, for both a jive and the foxtrot, and averaged 27.4.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scores | Between 25 and 30, with an average of 27.4 |
| Opening dance | Quickstep to "Stop This Flame" by Celeste (26) |
| Dance-offs | Three |
| Final dance | Foxtrot to "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis (30) |
| Finished | 10th of 15 |
Antonia, 28, has played Baela in House of the Dragon since 2022. Her first professional acting role came at 14, in a 2012 short film of The Tempest, and her credits include Doctors and Doctor Who. She was also a devoted Strictly fan. According to her official profile, she and her best friend, whom she met while filming Doctors, spent years watching every Saturday night and entering the audience ticket ballot.
Why does Bethany Antonia's Strictly exit matter?
Because Antonia and Xu were the competition's only same-sex pairing this year, and the first in three years. They were the third all-female pairing in the show's history, after Nicola Adams and Katya Jones in 2020 and Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer in 2022. Antonia asked to dance with another woman, and has said watching Adams and Jones "really changed my life".
For Xu, it is also a story of a comeback. The Chinese-born professional, who joined Strictly in 2019, was left without a celebrity partner in 2025, and said at the time she felt disappointed to be left out. In 2023, she and Les Dennis were the first couple to leave the series.
Who topped the Strictly leaderboard, and what else happened?
On Saturday, Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin topped the leaderboard with 36 for an American smooth to Harry Connick Jr's "It Had to Be You", earning their first 10. Dyer is back after being forced out of last year's series by injury. Actress Jaime Winstone missed the live show through injury, and is expected to return next week.
Sunday's results show also marked Remembrance Sunday, with a group performance by the professionals to Peter Gabriel's arrangement of David Bowie's "Heroes", choreographed by Lizzie Gough.
What happens next on Strictly Come Dancing?
Nine couples remain. The next live show is on Saturday 14 November at 6.25pm on BBC One, with the results show on Sunday 15 November at 7.15pm. Eastern Eye's guide to the Strictly Come Dancing 2026 line-up has the full list of the 15 celebrities who started the series.
