Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe issued a blunt response after he and partner Montell Douglas were the 10th couple to be booted from the BBC series.
On Saturday night, the couple performed the Rumba to I’m Here from The Colour Purple and received a respectable score of 32 out of a possible 40.
Over the last couple of weeks, Douglas has continued to impress the judges with her dancing development and her storytelling through the dances.
However, whilst she had been saved three times from the dance-off before, this weekend her luck ran out as all four judges decided to save Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec.
The result sparked fury among a large number of BBC viewers at home who felt Pete Wicks, who occupied bottom spot on the leaderboard, should’ve faced the axe.
Speaking to Tess Daly about her time in the show, Douglas praised: “He [Johannes] has been amazing. Strictly has touched me in ways I never knew possible.
“I’m an Olympian and a Gladiator, but I have honestly struggled with confidence my whole life and being on the show, with the beautiful crew, the judges, the cast has just been such an honour.”
Montell faced her fourth dance-off of the season
BBC
Radebe added: “I am so proud of you [Montell], because you are a non-dancer. But the one thing that you have done every single week is turn out beautiful dancing.
“So I want to say to you, thank you for respecting our art form of Ballroom and Latin. The way you handled it was like a true pro. You’re my winner.”
Issuing more praise to her partner, she concluded: “I have to say thank you to you [Johannes] because I really have found a friend and a brother in this man.
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart, I hope he’s in my life forever, because we have something very special.”
Upset about their departure from the series, Radebe took to his Instagram account shortly after their exit was announced and penned a simple but effective statement.
Sharing three images of their dance on Saturday night, he penned: “My [purple heart emoji] @montytrackstar Thank you @bbcstrictly.”
The short statement is a marked difference from the typical exit statements released by stars on their respective social media pages.
Douglas was quick to respond to the post though, and sweetly penned: “You are and always will be my glitterball.”
Their Strictly co-stars also expressed their love and how proud they were of the couple, with most of them simply commenting love heart emojis.
Douglas and Radebe weren’t the only ones to be upset about their departure, as fans flocked to the professional dancers’ comment section.
One penned: “Robbed. So sad but you are a pure gentleman and the two of you are just wonderful. Thank you.”
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Montell Douglas cried as she reflected on her time on the show
BBC
Another added: “My eldest daughter was in tears this evening. (We were choked up too!).
“There’s no way you should ever have been in the dance-off. What a partnership. Incredible to watch! You are both amazing.”
A third noted: “You 2 were so much joy to watch! The wrong 2 in the dance off but you have the best friendship & that’s worth so much more! Be very proud of yourselves, you’re both amazing.”
Someone else praised: “The most gracious, patient, humble man. A phenomenal dancer, who says everything with such kindness and so articulately. Johannes I wish there were more people in the world like you.” (sic)