Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Marquez has praised his celebrity partner Dr Punam Krishan after they became the fifth couple to leave the show.
The pair found themselves in the dance-off this week when their tango failed to impress the judges for the contest’s annual Halloween special.
The duo went head-to-head with former Coronation Street star Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu, but were forced to bow out when the judges unanimously voted to save Shayne.
Despite the gutting defeat, the Spanish dancer quickly took to Instagram to praise his partner’s “epic” efforts throughout the previous six weeks.
Gorka wrote: “Thank you so much for everyone who supported us as during these 6 weeks tonight was the end of our journey on Strictly but one I will always remember. @drpunamkrishan you should be so proud of yourself, as I am so proud of you, for your passion, love for dance and the Show.”
He added: “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for all the coffee breaks, croidsants [sic] and laughs we had.”
The professional stressed that Dr Punam faced the extra challenge of squeezing the gruelling dance rehearsals around her busy schedule as a GP in Scotland.
Gorka wrote: “So ridiculously proud of my wonderful friend. As a working GP she worked all hours god sent to learn to dance. She made history with her epic Bollywood couples choice routine and has made us all so incredibly proud. She came she slayed.”
Dr Punam also championed the progress that she had made during the competition. Speaking about her journey on Strictly as she prepared to leave the show, Punam said: “I’m really proud of myself. I’ve taken something that was so out 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 life where you can stop learning new skills.”
Turning to her partner she added: “I’ve learnt more than dancing, I’ve learnt so much from you.”
Punam thanked Gorka “for believing in her” and giving her the “gift of dancing”, promising: “I definitely don’t think this will be the end of my journey dancing”.
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