‘Strictly Come Dancing’: This contestant eliminated after tough dance-off with Nikita Kanda

Les Dennis and his dance partner Nancy Xu have become the first couple to be eliminated from BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing 2023 on Sunday night.

When last week’s and this week’s scores and votes were combined, Les and Nancy were placed in the dance-off against presenter Nikita Kanda and her professional dance partner Gorka Márquez.

Nikita danced to “Single Ladies” (Put a Ring on It) by Beyonce while Les performed Samba on “Rock the Boat” by Hues Corporation during the dreaded dance-off.

After their performances, Nikita won the votes from the judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke, while head judge Shirley Ballas agreed, leading to the elimination of Les.

Choosing to save her, Craig said Nikita was “most improved”, while Motsi said she was “extremely better in the dance-off”.

Anton said Nikita and Gorka “did the best job”, while Shirley, who did not have to vote, agreed and said she would have saved the duo too.

Nikita will join the other remaining couples next week for Movie Week.

After the result, Les said, “I have had the best time. This lady has been amazing, a great teacher. She’s really put me through my paces. I hope I have entertained, that's what I came here for. Strictly is the best and the people who put this on, you're just all amazing!”

What were the scores in Strictly Come Dancing week two?

Let’s take a look at the couples’ scores in week two! The couple scores from weeks one and two are added together to give a total score out of 80.

Layton and Nikita - 65 - (29+36)

Amanda and Giovanni - 61 - (29+32)

Ellie and Vito - 60 - (29+31)

Nigel and Katya - 59 - (32+27)

Angela and Kai - 59 - (28+31)

Bobby and Dianne - 58 - (29+29)

Angela and Carlos - 52 - (23+29)

Annabel and Johannes - 50 - (28+22)

Eddie and Karen - 43 - (22+21)

Adam and Luba - 42 - (19+23)

Krishnan and Lauren - 42 - (22+20)

Zara and Graziano - 42 - (19+23)

Jody and Jowita - 37 - (21+16)

Nikita and Gorka - 36 - (18+18)

Les and Nancy - 31 - (16+15)

Who is left in the competition after Les’ elimination?

After Les Dennis became the first celebrity to be booted of Strictly, the following stars remain in the competition:

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Nikita Kanda

Adam Thomas

Amanda Abbington

Bobby Brazier

Ellie Leach

Layton Williams

Annabel Croft

Nigel Harman

Zara McDermott

Angela Rippon

Angela Scanlon

Eddie Kadi

Jody Cundy

Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 7 October on BBC One at 6:20 pm.