Craig Kelly compares Strictly to freefalling

Saturday, 14th November 2009

The latest Strictly Come Dancing reject - actor Craig Kelly - has admitted that performing on the show was like being chucked out of a plane!

The Coronation Street star was given his marching orders from the hit ballroom dancing show last weekend after failing to impress in front of his home town crowd at the famous Tower Ballroom in Blackpool

And after getting the boot, 39 year-old Craig - who is from nearby Lytham St Anne’s - told local paper the Blackpool Citizen: “I’ve even sung in front of a similar crowd before at a charity do, but nothing was as nerve-wracking as going out every weekend and doing a dance for 90 seconds.”

“It was like being thrown out of a plane not knowing if your parachute was going to open.”

The star became the eighth celebrity to be voted off the seventh series of the show after he and professional partner Flavia Cacace lost in the dance off with fellow soap actor Ricky Groves and Erin Boag.

All of the judges agreed that Craig had to go, with Alesha Dixon giving the kindest comments: "Craig, you've been very sweet my love, but I have to save Ricky and Erin," she said.

And unlike previous contestants who usually take defeat with a smile on their face, Craig admitted to the Blackpool citizen that he felt a bit hard done by.

He said: “The judges were very mean to me. It was a shame really. They knew I was the local boy and they did seem to be very tough on me.

"I can’t really explain that. They were against me that night.

But that's not going to stop him dancing again: “Now my wife really wants me to take her to ballroom classes," he added.

"And I’d like to go back the Tower Ballroom and dance with her.”

Image Credit: BBC