Nina Wadia said she is “gutted” to be the first celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing.
The actress lost a dance-off with Coronation Street star Katie McGlynn and professional dancer Gorka Marquez on Sunday night’s show.
Wadia, known for her roles in EastEnders and Goodness Gracious Me, had been scored 18 for her tango on Saturday with partner Neil Jones.
She told Rylan Clark-Neal on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two: “I was gutted for sure.
“I had so much more to give and I wanted to spend so much more time with you (referring to Jones), more than my husband.”
For the tango, Wadia, 52, created a persona called “Sasha” to get into character but the judges noted that she had made a few mistakes during the performance.
She added: “I mean I loved it, I actually really enjoyed the tango, I had great fun doing it, so I was really disappointed because it’s technically a very hard dance to do. But yeah, it is what it is.”
Jones admitted Wadia was upset with herself after their performance but added: “She worked really hard at it, and at the beginning of the week it was hard, you started falling in love with the dance.
“And it’s just one of those things it can happen to anyone.
“It’s easy to just go wrong slightly, that happened. But she still did such a great performance.”
Wadia added: “One of the bits of advice that Neil gave me was, no matter what happens, you just carry on, you just enjoy it and so I did.”
@mr_njonesofficial @bbcstrictly #gingernspice #comedy #dance @rosannastyles_ @percy.langley pic.twitter.com/A9wbekq7kf
— Nina Wadia OBE (@Nina_Wadia) October 4, 2021
She also posted a comedic video to Twitter of her and Jones acting out a robbery scene where they hand over their handbag and wallet and Jones asks: “What just happened”, and Wadia jokes “I think the public were right, Neil. I think we were robbed”.
The pair then laughed as Wadia said: “Thank you for all your votes, thank you for all your support”, with Jones adding: “We love you and we love Strictly”.
The judges’ scores from Saturday were added to those from the first week’s dances before being combined with the results from a public vote, with the bottom two couples then competing in the dance-off.
While opting to save McGlynn, judge Craig Revel Horwood said: “Well, both couples clearly upped their game from the first time they danced.
“Nina, you got every step right. Katie, you really kept the energy up all the way through to the end with lots of retraction but the couple I’d like to save is Katie and Gorka.”
Head judge Shirley Ballas said Sunday’s show featured “one of the closest battles I think we’ve ever had in a dance-off”.
“Both couples upped their game. Bot couples were absolutely delightful to watch,” she said.
“Neither couple had mistakes so I’ve decided to go with the couple who had more advanced technical actions in their dance and that couple is Katie and Gorka.”
Next week the remaining 14 couples will perform movie-themed routines.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday at 6.45pm.