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James Bye had revealed he knew he was going to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night as soon as it became apparent he was facing Fleur East in the dance-off.
The EastEnders actor left the competition after his slightly controversial beekeeping-themed Charleston to Bumble Bee by LaVern Baker with professional partner Amy Dowden scored them 27 points.
This left them bottom of the leaderboard in a particularly high-scoring week.
They then faced off against Fleur and Vito Coppola in the bottom two, who danced their Salsa to Beyonce’s Break My Soul, which saw them safely through to next week after they were saved unanimously by the judges.
This was Fleur and Vito’s second appearance in the dance-off.
James has now said he saw that coming as he reflected on being in his first – and only- dreaded dance-off, which he confirmed was as horribly stressful as it looked.
The dance-off was James’ first and Fleur’s second (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA
The EastEnders actor generously praised his friend Fleur’s dance talents (Picture: BBC)
‘It’s up there with one of the worst experiences of my life – especially when you know you’ve got to go against Fleur East!’ he told host Rylan Clark on Monday’s It Takes Two.
‘She knows what she’s doing, she’s very, very good, and I love her to bits.’
Confirming he knew that his time was up, he added: ‘That’s the other thing, it’s horrible to then feel like I’m competing with someone who I’ve got really close with, who I know is such a lovely person – and I know I’m going to go!’
The 38-year-old later shared that he had really physically felt the nerves ahead of taking to the dancefloor a second time.
Amy and James were bottom of the leaderboard after their Charleston (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
Fleur’s salsa was voted for by all four judges (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
‘My stomach was flipping, I had to go outside and have some air. It really does get to you! They know how to ramp the pressure up,’ he said.
However, the TV star made sure to praise his leading lady Amy for her commitment and passion for dancing, saying he had never worked with anyone ‘who loves their job as much as Amy does’.
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As the dancer was moved to tears, he continued: ‘She gives this show every part of her body, she is such a lovely human being. She will be in my life forever. She’s amazing.
‘This is what Strictly is about, and they are lucky to have her.’
It Takes Two is on weeknights at 6:30pm on BBC2. Strictly Come Dancing returns at 7pm on Saturday on BBC1.
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James called the dance-off ‘one of the worst experiences of my life’.
