Phil Tufnell sad but relieved to be off Strictly
Tuesday, 17th November 2009
Former England cricket ace Phil Tufnell has revealed his feelings after becoming the ninth celebrity to be shown the door in the current run of Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday.
The 43-year-old and his professional partner Katya Virshilas were narrowly beaten in the dance off by former EastEnders star Ricky Groves and Erin Boag.
But he wasn't too disappointed when speaking to The Sun's TV Biz: "It's a bit of a shame not to be involved," he said. "But it's lovely to get back into the swing of normal life.
"You get completely absorbed by it. It is a bit of a relief, tinged with some sadness. I don't want to be a professional dancer, so I went in there to enjoy myself.
"I worked hard and learned to dance but I had 20 years of playing for my country and that was my career. I'm glad that I can put my feet up. But now my wife Dawn wants to learn how to ballroom dance."
Tufnell didn't dance that badly on the night, finishing fourth out of the seven celebrity dancers on the judge's leaderboard with 31 points for his American Smooth.
Dreaded dance-off
But the voting public preferred Laila Rouass and Anton Du Beke - who only scored 22 - meaning the dreaded dance-off beckoned for likeable Phil.
After his heads-up battle with Ricky Groves, the judges were split on who they wanted to save, so Len Goodman's casting vote came into play.
He said: "It was a very, very tough call because they both have danced beautifully tonight and both upped their game.
"However, I've got to go for the one that gave the cleaner and the more precise performance and that's Ricky and Erin."
The Strictly celebs were really in the wars last week with Laila Rouass dancing despite an injured foot, Olympian Jade Johnson sitting out of the show with a sore knee, and Bruce Forsyth missing with flu.
They're all due to return next Saturday though, when Shirley Bassey will be the celebrity guest performer.
Next week, the remaining seven couples will dance to stay in the competition, with Ricky Whittle, Ricky Groves, Laila Rouass, Jade Johnson, Chris Hollins, Ali Bastian and Natalie Cassidy all still vying to take the 2009 Strictly crown.
Image Credit: BBC
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