Strictly Come Dancing’s James Bye has become the fifth celebrity to be eliminated from the series after finding himself in the bottom two with Fleur East, appearing in her shock second dance-off.
The EastEnders actor and his partner Amy Dowden faced off against the Sax hitmaker in the dreaded dance-off in this week’s Halloween special, and performed his Charleston to Bumble Bee by LaVern Baker, while Fleur and Vito Coppola danced their Salsa to Beyonce’s Break My Soul.
However, for the Martin Fowler star, it was to be his last dance as judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas decided to save Fleur.
When asked by presenter Tess Daly about his time on the series, James seemed philosophical as he shared: ‘I’ve said this from the very beginning, all I can do is go out there and do my very best.’
Generously praising the former X-Factor runner-up, he added: ‘I am dancing against Fleur East, I went and did my best but she is phenomenal. I’ve had the best time on this show and I have a friend for life [in Amy], all I can do is thank the family, and I have a new family now.
‘It’s a competition but you don’t feel like that backstage, you honestly feel like everyone has each other’s backs and everyone is just willing everyone to do their best!’
When host Tess Daly mentioned James’ three sons and how he had made them proud though, the actor’s composure wobbled as he gave into tears, exclaiming: ‘Don’t tell me that Tess! Don’t say that.’
Amy was then asked if she had any words for her partner.
‘You came on here to show your boys they can throw themselves into any challenge in life,’ she began, with James interrupting: ‘What did I just say? Don’t bring the boys up!’
She added: ‘You are the best role model they could ever have as their daddy! I am so proud of you!’
When it came to delivering their verdict Craig opted to save the ‘better dance and the better dancer’ and decided to save Fleur and Vito.
‘For me, there were different levels of dancing on the dance floor, and I have decided to save Fleur and Vito,’ added Motsi Mabuse.
Anton admitted: ‘I thought both couples danced better on Saturday night. They didn’t reproduce their best performance, but it doesn’t have to be the best performance, it has to be better and I thought their performance was just good enough: Fleur and Vito.’
Some viewers were very unhappy to see Fleur in the dance-off once more after she scored 32 for her performance, meaning she wasin the middle of the leader board tied with Will Mellor and Helen Skelton.
It was also the singer and presenter’s 35th birthday.
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James has had some stand-out moments during his time on Strictly, including a special shout-out from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn.
Sharing a snippet of his performance on Twitter, he wrote: ‘Can’t decide whether I should keep this scene in Vol 3. Let me know what you think below.’
The remaining 10 couples will take to the Strictly dance floor once again next Saturday.
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Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday at 7pm on BBC One.
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