Fleur East was ‘very nervous’ as she faced the Strictly dance-off (Picture: PA/BBC)
Fleur East has revealed her instant reaction to finding herself in the dreaded Strictly dance off over the weekend.
The X Factor star found herself in the bottom two on the Strictly Come Dancing result show on Sunday night, and she had to face fellow fan favourite Richie Anderson to keep her place in the BBC competition.
Appearing on her own Hits Radio Breakfast Show on Monday, she admitted she was stunned when her name was called out.
She said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. Of course, you know someone is going to be called but as soon as you hear your name it’s like “oh no”.
‘There was so much technique in my dance and three terrifying lifts and I remember after I’d danced on Saturday I was like “phew, done it now, I can relax a little bit and think about the next dance”.
‘But as soon as I knew I was in the bottom two I thought “Oh no I’ve got to do it again. I’ve got to do all those lifts again. And with added pressure!” So, I was very nervous; very, very nervous.’
Fleur and Vito found themselves in the bottom two with Rchie and Giovanni (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
She admitted her professional dance partner Vito Coppola helped her focus on the ‘positive’ by pointing out she’d ‘get to be Ariel again’, with her American smooth routine set to Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid.
‘Vito just looked at me and said, ‘well you get to be Ariel again’ and it is an amazing dance to dance, so it’s really cool that I got to do it again and I guess that’s what I’m going to take as a positive,’ she explained.
‘I’m so happy and grateful that the judges saved us as I’m not ready to stop dancing with Vito. We’re just getting started!’
Fleur and Vito dance the American smooth one more time (Picture: BBC/PA)
Tess Daly chatted to Richie and Giovanni as they left the competition (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)
Her comments come after the Mirror reported that Fleur was emotional and started crying after the dance off once the cameras stopped rolling.
An insider told the outlet: ‘There was an audible gasp in the studio when Fleur’s name was called out for the dance-off. All the pros and celebs looked so shocked and Fleur was clearly devastated.
‘She was keeping it all together like a real pro but after she and Vito were sent through by the judges and the cameras were off, she began to cry. Vito comforted her but it was clear she was really upset – as were the other celebs.’
She and Vito have survived to dance another week, while Richie and his pro partner Giovanni Pernice were eliminated after judges Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi all voted to save Fleur.
Head Judge Shirley has angered some viewers after she was then asked who she would have chosen, admitting: ‘Well with the two couples the public put in the bottom two I would have saved Richie and Giovanni.’
Meanwhile, after the episode Fleur posted a message on Instagram thanking the judges for saving her, and admitted she was ‘so so sad’ to see Richie go.
She wrote: ‘So grateful to be saved by the judges this week. But so so sad to say goodbye to my friend @iamrichieanderson 😔 – thank you so much for your messages of support. We will work harder this week and do our absolute best on the dance floor.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for BBC and Fleur East for comment.
Listen to Fleur East on The Hits Radio Breakfast Show every weekday morning from 6am –10am at hitsradio.co.uk.
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No one expected her to be up for elimination.