Sarah Storey Exits Strictly After Judges Save Bethany Antonia in Dance-Off
Sarah Storey leaves after a unanimous judges’ decision, but says her dance-off Tango was her best performance of the series.
Dame Sarah Storey’s Strictly Come Dancing run ended in the dance-off, but she left with a performance she felt marked real progress. After facing Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu for a second time, Sarah and partner Julian Caillon were eliminated by a unanimous decision from the judges who spoke: Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood.
The result came after Icons Week, when the remaining 13 couples performed routines inspired by music stars. The dance-off paired Sarah and Julian’s Shania Twain-inspired Tango against Bethany and Nancy’s Cha Cha to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”. Both couples repeated their routines, giving the judges a direct comparison before they made their decision.
Sarah returned in the leopard-print coat she had worn for her Tango. Shirley Ballas had described the routine as “unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in my entire life”. Shirley, the judge with the deciding call that week, said she would also have saved Bethany and Nancy.
That put an abrupt end to a week Sarah had found difficult. Speaking to It Takes Two host Ellie Taylor after the result, she said the routine had been “tough” throughout rehearsals, even though Saturday night’s performance was the best she had managed it. She had expected to be in the bottom two after finishing last on the leaderboard, and described the chance to dance again as a “bonus”.
Sarah was candid about how hard it can be to build confidence while learning a skill in public. “It’s really hard to be confident in something you don’t feel like you’re doing very well,” she said, describing how getting a sequence right one day and losing it the next could knock her confidence. She added that she had worked as hard as she could.
Her clearest measure of progress was week by week. Sarah said she had improved something each time, even though she would not get the chance to return in week five and try again. The experience, she said, was “completely different from anything I’ve done before” and “a big level up” from her usual life.
Asked what she would take away from the competition, Sarah became emotional. Her message was that people can believe in themselves and make progress even when they do not start out feeling good at something. It was a modest claim, grounded in her own experience: each week had brought something a little better, even if the overall learning curve was uneven.
Julian credited Sarah’s work ethic and determination, saying she came to rehearsals ready to improve and thanking her for being “an amazing student and an even better friend”. After the elimination, he told comedian Abi Clarke that the Tango was the best Sarah had danced. His instruction before the routine was simple: give it everything, leave nothing behind, and know she had done her best regardless of the outcome.
Sarah said they had taken the judges’ comments backstage and tried to apply them straight away. She had few regrets, though she wished she had had time to tackle the Jive. She had also hoped to perform a Paso Doble, and wanted to test herself across new styles and see whether Latin suited her. Those dances will remain unanswered questions, but she was glad to have performed the routines she did.
A leaderboard reshaped by surprises
Sarah’s exit was part of a weekend that changed the picture among the remaining couples. Shaun Wright-Phillips, who had been expected to struggle, produced a Couple’s Choice routine that earned him a series-best 28 points. Jaime Winstone, who had been in the bottom two only a fortnight earlier, climbed to the top of the leaderboard and shared first place with YouTuber Cach Mercer. Their rebound puts both in a stronger position as the competition continues, though the leaderboard alone cannot settle who reaches the final.
There was also a significant absence. Australian pop star Delta Goodrem, who had been the front-runner the previous week, withdrew after sustaining a rib injury in training. The hosts—Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe—explained that she was not in the studio and sent their support.
Watching from home, Delta said she was recovering and needed time to process the setback before she could share more. She also said she was looking forward to seeing the cast perform. The contrast between her withdrawal and the other couples’ changing fortunes leaves the series with a fresh question: who can turn a strong weekend into sustained form? Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday and Sunday on BBC One.
