The line-up for next Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing semi-final has been revealed after the weekend dance-off.
BBC Breakfast's Dan Walker and his professional dance partner Nadiya Bychkova, dancing the Tango, lost out to presenter AJ Odudu and her dance partner Kai Widdrington, performing the Salsa, in the dance-off.
Dan the dancer has come so far, with the brilliant Nadiya guiding him through every step. A partnership to be proud of! #Strictly pic.twitter.com/hrO6vReNvA
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) December 5, 2021
Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all voted to save Odudu and Widdrington, with Head Judge Shirley Ballas saying that she agreed with the voting.
Odudu and Widdrington join Great British Bake Off champion John Whaite and his dance partner Johannes Radebe, EastEnders' Rose Ayling-Ellis and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice and presenter Rhys Stephenson and his dance partner Nancy Xu in the semi-final.
After the result was announced, Walker said: "By the way, I would have saved AJ and Kai as well!"
"The last 11 weeks have been absolutely amazing," he continued. "I've genuinely loved every second of it.
"When I go back to the first day when I was asked to dance in front of some glitter balls, at that point, if there had been a fire exit, I'd have just walked away.
"But this amazing woman grabbed me by the hand, and brought me out onto this dance floor. I'm not a dancer, but she showed me that I can dance, and that for me, this has been an absolutely incredible experience."
"Thank you to the judges, your feedback every week has been brilliant, and really constructive and helpful, and everyone over there, my fellow competitors, have been brilliant," said Walker.
"The four people [couples] left are so good, as you say, the standard has been amazing. It's been a pleasure for me to watch them dance each week, and thank you to all the pros for being so kind, caring and encouraging. Plus, everyone who works on this programme. It's a pleasure to be a part of a show that means so much to so many people."
Paying tribute to his dance partner Bychkova, Walker said: "There are some people who walk into your life and turn some lights on, and that's what she has done to me. You're an amazing person, and if you'll have me, you'll have a friend for life, Nadiya Bychkova."
"Like he said, sometimes the right person walks into your life at the right time and that's what happened," said Bychkova.
"You always encourage everyone, you always have time for everyone. It just inspires me to be a better person myself. Thank you."
"I've loved it," Walker added. "I don't think I'll dance all the time, but the one thing that will be different, is that I won't not dance anymore.
"So thank you for having me, it's been brilliant!"
The Strictly Come Dancing semi-final is on BBC One on Saturday at 7:20pm.
