Strictly Come Dancing bid farewell to Dr Punam Krishan after she was voted off the BBC contest. The 41-year-old dazzled with a Tango to Eurythmics’ song Sweet Dreams, but her score of 26 left her and Chris McCausland at the bottom of the scoreboard.
Her efforts didn’t suffice to avoid the dance-off against Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu, as both pairs reprised their spooky numbers. Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke opted to save Shayne and Nancy, with Shirley Ballas confessing her agreement.
Reflecting on her Strictly journey to host Tess Daly, Dr Punam said: “I am really proud of myself. You know I’ve taken on something that’s so out of my comfort zone. The one thing that I’ve very much learnt is to say yes more, and that there is no point in your life when you can stop learning new skills.
“I’ve learnt more than dancing, I’ve learnt so much from Gorka. Everyone’s been so incredible and it’s just memories that I’ll take home forever and I am very proud. I’ve made my family very proud, I’m just really grateful.”
Punam confirmed the pride of her family when probed, expressing her long-standing desire to participate in the programme, reports the Express
She shared with emotion: “My kids are so proud, my parents, my husband, everyone. This is just one of those things that I have dreamt about for years and I think to have one of your dreams genuinely come ”true” is just a surreal feeling. Week after week it’s been incredible, I’ve made friends for life and everyone’s just been so kind, so thank you.”
Gorka mused on Punam’s experience in the competition as he told Tess: “She’s a GP and a mum. She had never danced before and I think she improved week by week. I think she is truly what the show is about, someone who doesn’t have experience in the performance world came here and learnt to dance.”
Reflecting proudly, he said: “She wanted to do so well and worked so hard. Also I feel very proud and very honoured that we got to do a Bollywood dance, to represent your culture, show your culture to the world and open doors for so many people in your culture.”
Acknowledging her journey, Punam thanked Gorka for believing in her and for his teachings, saying: “You’ve definitely sparked so much dancing. I want to learn more, and I definitely don’t think this will be the end of my journey dancing.”
Her departure adds her name to the list of celebrities who have exited the contest, with notable departures including Tom Dean, Toyah Willcox, Nick Knowles, and Paul Merson.
In light of the latest exit, Jamie Borthwick and Sarah Hadland still remain favourites, scoring 38 each in their recent stints, placing them at the top of the leaderboard.
In the results show on Sunday, viewers were entertained with a Beetlejuice-inspired performance by the professional dancers, featuring Carlos Gu as the legendary character. Unfortunately, Amy Dowden was missing from the group routine due to unexpected circumstances.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 2nd November at 6:30pm on BBC One with the results show on Sunday 3rd November at 7:20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.