© BBC/Guy Levy 'Thank you, for some of the most special months of my life'
Ellie Taylor praises her dance partner as she leaves Strictly
Ellie Taylor became the ninth Celebrity to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing last night.
The comedian paid tribute to her professional partner Johannes Radebe after leaving the show.
Taking to Instagram, she joked that Johannes, 35, was the 'best boyfriend I've ever had'
She added: 'Thank you for your laughter, your awful lyric learning and for letting me stare blankly into your beautiful face for eight hours a day as you teach me what is left and what is right.
'Thank you for helping me make peace with my lankiness and making me believe that maybe I can in fact, despite a lifetime of telling myself otherwise, dance.
'Thank you, Jojo for some of the most special months of my life.
'Thank you for absolutely everything. Except the Cha Cha. That was f**king awful.'
'Thank you, Jojo for some of the most special months of my life.
The pair found themselves bottom of the leaderboard on Saturday with just 25 points, four points adrift of fifth placed Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez.
After the public vote, Taylor and Radebe faced Fleur East and Vito Coppola in the dance-off – but failed to win support from any of the judges.
On air, host Tess Daly asked the comedian if Strictly had been everything she expected it to be.
Taylor replied: 'It has and it's been, I'm going to be a cliché machine now, buts it's been everything and more. I never in a million years expected to be in for this long and to experience it so fully.
'Strictly is about dancing but it's also about the people, and every part of this show from the top to bottom, from the Execs to the make-up, to the hair to the costumes, to the sets to the band, to my fellow celebs and the dancers - even some of the judges have been alright!
'It's been an absolute privilege to become part of the Strictly alumni and I've really really loved it.'
And she told Radebe: 'I have been so worried and so out of my comfort zone and so self-conscious and so weird and you have said "embrace your weird Ellie". You've done it so full-heartedly and without judgement.
'It's been an absolute privilege to dance with you JoJo, I don't know what runs through your body but it's not blood, it's rhythm and it's music, and to watch you perform is incredible.'
On Saturday, 'bad cop' judge Craig Revel Horwood awarded their jive to Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison a mere five out of ten points.
He told them: 'You got off on the wrong foot, it was lacklustre I'm afraid.'
Taylor laughed off the comment with: 'At least it wasn't a four.'
Awarding a seven, Motsi Mabuse told them: 'You had the fun of jive. I like the whole look' – adding she loved the performance but saying they were technically weak
Head judge Shirley Ballas echoed that sentiment, saying as she gave them six out of then: 'I loved the theme, I thought the narrative was good but for me, the technique missed completely.
Awarding another seven, Anton Du Beke added: 'I love the way you perform your numbers. You could be a musical theatre star, you have great characterisation... I thought it was marvellous, well done.'
Published: 28 Nov 2022
