Nick Knowles is third celebrity to be booted off ‘Strictly Come Dancing’

Nick Knowles and his pro partner Luba Mushtuk have been kicked off ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ after a dance off against Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu during the third results show of the series.

Presenter Nick, 62, and Luba, 34, performed their Charleston again to ‘Rain on the Roof’ from the film ‘Paddington 2’, while singer Shayne, 39, and 33-year-old Nancy repeated their Cha Cha to ‘Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use)’ by Sub Sub feat Melanie Williams.

After both couples had danced for a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts.

Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all chose to save Shayne and Nancy.

With three votes in favour of the couple, they won the majority vote meaning that Nick and Luba would be leaving the competition.

Head Judge Shirley Ballas agreed and said she would have decided to save Shayne and Nancy.

When asked by show host Tess Daly about their time on the show, Nick said: “I’ve really, really been surprised by how much I’ve loved doing it and by two things that happen.

“One is how much you care each week, and the other is how much you don’t want to let down your partner.

“The only reason I could do this is simply because of Luba’s changes – she’s been amazing.”

Luba added: “I’ve never met someone as determined as you, and I remember you saying that if you do your best, you’ll be very happy. I think you did more than your best. Thank you.”

When asked by Tess about his partner Luba, Nick went on: “Luba’s been amazing and just been so fabulous every day.

“And I should say thank you also to all the background staff, the physios, all the people that have actually got me through this week, and to all of my fellow competitors who have been absolutely astounding, beautiful people.

“There are some amazing dancers up there, and I will love watching the rest of the series.”

Sunday’s results show also featured a special routine from our fabulous professional dancers to Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams’, choreographed by Mandy Moore and starring Nikita Kuzmin and Karen Hauer as the leads.

There was also a performance of ‘Everything’s Here’ and ‘Nothing’s Lost’ from Snow Patrol.

The remaining 12 couples will take to the dancefloor next week when ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ returns on Saturday 19 October, with the results show on Sunday 20 October on BBC One.

Both of this weekend’s episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.

Nick and Luba will be joining Fleur East and Janette Manrara for their first exclusive televised interview live on ‘Strictly: It Takes Two’ on Monday 14 October at 6,30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.