A Strictly Come Dancing star has left the ballroom for good – but made a promise in light of their experiences on the show.
Dr Punam Krishan and her professional partner Gorka Marquez were the latest couple to be eliminated on Sunday night after their tango to Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams scored 22 points.
The pair found themselves in the dance-off against former Coronation Street star Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu, but had to admit defeat when the judges unanimously voted to save Shayne.
The Scots GP had struggled to impress the judges in recent weeks, with other Strictly experts labelling her the ‘ worst dancer ‘ remaining on the BBC show.
Reflecting on her dancing journey after Tess Daly announced the results, 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.”
She added: “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.”
The doctor explained that her progress to become a confident dancer over the past six weeks had only been possible thanks to the support of other celebrity contestants and her partner Gorka.
She said: “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 was quick to champion his partner’s achievements, despite the disappointing results.
He said: “I’m very proud of what she has achieved. […] 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.”
The Spanish dancer explained how, even without raising the glitterball trophy, Punam had already made history with her Bollywood routine in week three – the first of its kind on the show.
Gorka said: “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.”
Punam promised that she would continue to honour the dancing legacy that she had created on Strictly, even after she had left the competition.
She said: “Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for giving me the gift of dancing. I’ve never danced before, but 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.”
The remaining 10 pairings now pass the contest’s midway mark and move on to the seventh live show – a brand-new themed week celebrating “music icons across the decades”.
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