Will and Nancy just missed out on a place in the final (Picture: BBC)
Will Mellor and his professional partner on Strictly Come Dancing Nancy Xu made a teary appearance on companion show It Takes Two on Monday night, shown directly after they were eliminated from the competition in a close semi-final.
The couple had ended Sunday at the bottom of the leader board after their Paso Doble was less than well received by the judges, scoring the lowest mark of the night with 32 – although they managed to bounce back with their Couple’s Choice routine, which saw them pay tribute to Will’s hometown of Manchester.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, and they become the eleventh couple to get the boot.
On Sunday, Will had been clearly disheartened after the judges’ comments, saying he was ‘feeling rubbish’ and berating himself for being ‘too aggressive’ and forgetting some of the fundamentals.
Talking to host Rylan on It Takes Two after 24 hours to reflect on his performance though, the Coronation Street actor said that he was ‘too harsh on myself’.
‘I’m just human and if anybody meets me, you get to meet me. I don’t have another person I can put on and I was disappointed because I’ve worked so hard and we’ve got so far in a competition. The last thing I wanted to was get it wrong that night,’ he admitted.
The duo were reduced to tears after watching back their journey on the show (Picture: BBC)
Will also reflected on his Paso performance (Picture: BBC)
However, he agreed with his partner Nancy and fellow competitors that ‘it wasn’t as bad’ as he had first feared, having had chance to watch his performance back.
‘From what the judges said, I beat myself up and I’ve watched it back. I was too harsh on myself.’
Saying that as long as Nancy was happy, he was happy, the 46-year-old added: ‘She said you did me proud and I’ve watched it back and I was too harsh on myself and it wasn’t as bad as they sort of made out.’
The couple was then put through the emotional wringer, as is tradition on the show following an exit, with highlights of their best bits, which reduced both to tears.
Nancy and Will’s ballroom routine scored them 32, which was the lowest mark of the night during a sparkling semi-final (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
As Will composed himself, he was presented with additional messages from his family, which broke him as he lamented: ‘Don’t do it to me.’
Nancy sobbed as she described the ‘amazing journey’ she had been on with Will, while the soap star said he ‘wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anybody else’.
‘It was an unbelievable ride, we’ve created some amazing moments we can look back on,’ he shared.
However, he then broke talking about the support his wife Michelle had given him throughout the competition, as his voice cracked with emotion.
The Corrie star was broken when talking about his wife’s support (Picture: BBC)
‘Thank you so much Strictly for giving me the memories for my mum and my family and my sisters and my kids and my wife Michelle, who’s been by my side every time I come home moaning and aching and she’s running baths for me.
‘Without her it would have been really tough, and without this lady nexr to me I wouldn’t have got anywhere near this.’
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He added: ‘I’m going to take what I’ve learned from this – that you can do things and test yourself and go out of your comfort zone every now and then and you can achieve more than you think you can.’
The remaining couples in the competition that have made it through to the final are Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystał, Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez, Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu, and Fleur East and Vito Coppola, who beat Will and Nancy in the series’ final dance off.
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final airs Saturday December 17 at 7:05pm on BBC One.
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The couple became the eleventh pairing eliminated, just ahead of the final.
