Week 11: Natalie Cassidy leaves Strictly

In week eleven of the competition all five of the remaining celebrity contestants and their professional dance partners took to the floor performing a Charleston or a Rock 'n' Roll dance -- the first time ever that either of these dances had been danced competitively on the show.

In another Strictly first, and echoing traditional ballroom competitions, the couples had to perform a judged group dance. All the couples took to the floor together to dance a Viennese Waltz. Each couple was scored individually by the judges and the scores were added to their totals on the judge’s leader board.

After tonight’s performances, the combination of the judges' scores and viewers’ votes left Natalie Cassidy and her professional partner Vincent Simone in the bottom two and facing the dance off with Ricky Whittle and his professional partner Natalie Lowe.

Ricky and Natalie then performed their Rock and Roll dance to Hound Dog and Natalie and Vincent performed their Rock and Roll dance to Long Tall Sally for a second time for the judges' deciding vote

The Judges' Comments

Making their decision on who to save the judges said:

Craig Revel Horwood: "Well this couple danced the best I’ve ever seen them dance in the competition so far and that’s Ricky and Natalie."

Alesha Dixon: "I’d like to say congratulations to both couples for making it this far, you’re both winners, but the couple I’d like to keep is Ricky and Natalie"

Bruno Tonioli: "The couple I’d like to save, I think, was much much better the second time around – Ricky and Natalie"

With three votes cast in their favour, Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe were saved and through to next week's show. It was academic, but Head Judge Len Goodman said he would have chosen to keep Ricky and Natalie making it a unanimous decision.

When asked if she’d enjoyed her time on the show a tearful Natalie said: "I’ve had the most amazing time and you know that. It’s been the best experience, the best experience, really"

On tonight’s show Natalie and Vincent were awarded a total of 26 points for their Rock and Roll dance and 7 points for their group Viennese Waltz by the judges giving them a final total of 33 points.

They then departed the show to the exit song; 'Days' by Elvis Costello.

In a TV exclusive, having never performed the song together on television before, chart toppers James Morrison and Nelly Furtardo sang their top ten hit ‘Broken Strings’ and there was a show stopping performance by Riverdance who are celebrating their 15th anniversary.

In addition to this, Strictly’s professional dancers Matthew Cutler, Aliona Vilani, Brendan Cole and Katya Virshilas performed a twist on the traditional ‘Foxtrot’ by dancing a ‘Roxtrot’ to the Muse song ‘Time is Running out’.

In next weeks quarter finals world renowned ballerina Darcey Bussell joins the judging panel to give her opinion on the remaining four couples. From next week Strictly will also split into two shows. The main show will start at 6.40pm with a separate results show at 9.40pm.

Discover how the former Royal Ballet ballerina feels about joining this year's show, in our Darcey Bussell news story.

Plus, read the latest BBC News Entertainment story for Strictly.