Les Dennis became the first celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2023 on Sunday night.
The actor and his pro dancing partner Nancy Xu faced radio presenter Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez in the dance-off, after receiving the fewest public votes.
Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton du Beke all voted to save Nikita and Gorka, sending Les and Nancy home.
When asked about his time on the show by presenter Tess Daly, Dennis said: “I’ve had the best time, this lady has been amazing, a great teacher, she’s really put me through my paces.”
“(To Nancy) I did as well as I could for you, I hope. That lot up there, I’m going to miss you so much. I really appreciate and understand the judges’ point of view, thank you so much (to Shirley Ballas) for giving me a 10 for entertainment.”
“I hope I’ve entertained, that’s what I came here for. Strictly is the best and the people who put this on, you’re just all amazing.”
Viewers took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to react to the elimination – with many saying they are sad to see Les go.
Check out some of their reactions below:
Sad to see Les go. I wanted to see his “journey”. Also, I’ve heard of him. #Strictly
— Sarah Deech ☕️ (@londonette) October 1, 2023
Les got all my votes for entertainment. Sorry to see you go Les #Strictly
— Debs (@debsuffolk) October 1, 2023
@bbcstrictly @LesDennis Very sad your out of Strictly Les, truly enjoyed your Samba with Nancy, it was brilliant to watch. Anyway you have done yourself and all of us fans truly proud dancing on Strictly Les, glad you enjoyed the experience. Your a legend. #Strictly
— John Henry Horne (@johnhorneartist) October 1, 2023
les seems like such a nice man, not the best dancer but really put his heart into this ❤️ #strictly
— linda carter & cindy beale defender (@lindaswalford) October 1, 2023
#Strictly
Les is a tv icon deserved 10 for entertainment but strictly wasn’t for him, pic.twitter.com/btriNsApZX— sam (@sam__wxm) October 1, 2023
Ah Les bless him. ❤️ His time was short and sweet but the competition is stronger than ever this year. Can't wait for Movie week now! #Strictly
— Amy 💙 (@geordiegalg) October 1, 2023
