Former champion jockey-turned-adventurer Richard Dunwoody failed to impress the Strictly Come Dancing judges with his moves this weekend, becoming the second celebrity to be voted off the BBC show.
Richard faced Coronation Street actor Craig Kelly in the dance-off on Saturday night (26 September) after the pair received the lowest points after the public vote was added to the judges scores.
Richard and his dance partner Lilia Kopylova performed a waltz on Friday night and a cha cha cha on Saturday.
Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli all voted to save Coronation Street actor Craig Kelly over Richard after the dance-off on Saturday night (26 September). Only Len Goodman supported Richard.
As the first jockey to compete on the show Richard described the Strictly Come Dancing as “tremendous” and an “unbelievable experience”.
“In some ways it’s very sad to leave our little family, in a short amount of time I’ve made some very good friends,” he said.
“The team are absolutely fantastic — no egos — and that goes for both the professional dancers and the contestants. I thought the judges were really fair and very good to me. I really, really enjoyed it, it’s about having fun and enjoying yourself. Now I get to have a slightly more normal life again!”
Dancer Lilia said Richard as “by far the most hard-working” partner she’d had on the show and that she was looking forward to continuing her riding lessons with the Grand National-winner.
Richard is now backing Hollyoaks star Ricky Whittle to win the show.
“I’d like to see Ricky win, or Zoe Lucker [Footballers’ Wives actress] from our group,” he said. “Laila [Rouass, also from Footballers’ Wives] would be the each way bet, she’ll improve if she keeps working at it and has a great chance.”
