Nikita and Gorka leave in Movie Week

The credits roll for Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez as they’re the second couple to depart the Strictly dance floor this series.

The pair took to the Ballroom for movie week and performed a Clueless inspired Jive to Kids In America, but when the Judges’ scores were combined with the public vote, Nikita and Gorka found themselves in their second Dance Off this series. They were up against Zara Mcdermott and Graziano di Prima who performed a Paso Doble to The Puss Suite from Puss In Boots.

Once both routines were performed again, their fate was handed over to the Judges. Motsi Mabuse said "I thought both couples gave it their best, but one couple made a few mistakes that were quite visible, so that’s why I’m saving Zara and Graziano."

Both Craig and Anton agreed with Motsi, Anton in particular also noticed a couple of small mistakes made during the Dance Off. With three votes in favour of Zara and Graziano, it meant that Nikita and Gorka would be leaving the competition. Head Judge Shirley Ballas also agreed and said she would have decided to save Zara and Graziano.

When asked by Tess about their time on the show, Nikita said: “I don’t want to leave yet, I feel like I’ve let him down. I’ve had the best time and I love all my Strictly family, I’m going to miss you all. This has been a dream come true, I’m so grateful. I’ve got to say the biggest thank you to Gorka, he has been the biggest support and I’ve had the best time ever.”

Gorka was then asked by Tess about Nikita overcoming her nerves and how proud he is of her, he said: “I am beyond proud of her, for someone that doesn’t have any dance experience or performance experience to come on this show and dance in front of millions of people – for three weeks, I think it’s incredible. You should be very proud of yourself; you have never let me down and I am very proud of you. This show is going to teach you so many things about yourself that you can take with you and I take incredible memories. I’ve never laughed so much in three weeks than I did with you!”

We’ve loved watching Nikita and Gorka bring so much laughter and fun to the Ballroom each week, but you can catch them for one last time on tomorrow’s It Takes Two, at 6:30pm on BBC Two!