Angela Rippon has branded her first experience of landing in the Strictly dance-off as "upsetting" and "tough" after she retained her spot in the competition at the expense of Adam Thomas.
Following Saturday night's performances, Rippon found herself in the dance-off despite being clear of the bottom two by a point on the Week Seven leaderboard.
Thomas and Angela Scanlon both finished joint-bottom on 27 points apiece following the judges' scores but the public made sure the latter avoided the dance-off at Thomas and Rippon's expense.
It's not the first time BBC viewers appear to have shown a lack of support in Rippon with Craig Revel Horwood having to defend his scoring of the 79-year-old icon and some fans claiming she only does "slow" routines.
The controversy continued on Sunday evening when it was revealed by the judges that they'd voted unanimously to keep Rippon in the competition.
Addressing the dance-off and her place in the competition for the first time since, Rippon said: "It was really upsetting.
Angela Rippon faced Adam Thomas in the Week Seven dance-off
BBC
"I was cross with myself I think because clearly I hadn't done everything that Kai [Widdrington] had been drumming into me during the week.
"But at the same time, I think as I said on the programme, the upside to that is we got to dance it again and normally, of course, you don't. So it was lovely to do it again."
When asked if she was nervous about the dance-off when the dreaded red light beamed down on her and Widdrington, Rippon explained: "I think the situation we're in at the moment... I mean, the pool is getting so small now, there were nine of us, there's only eight of us now.
"Which means that if there's only going to be three people in the final then every week it gets tougher and someone is going to be the one who is going to be eliminated.
"What was tough about it was, of course, Adam is such a lovely guy. We all absolutely adore him, we've all become great friends.
"When you are the other person in the dance-off, you know you're going to battle it out with someone who's become a mate. It's tough, it is tough," she said on Tuesday's It Takes Two.
Since his exit, Thomas has been inundated with support from his Strictly co-stars, including former star Amanda Abbington who showed her support to his wife Caroline with a sweet gesture despite quitting the BBC show.
The songs and dances for Week Eight have already been released as well so fans know what to expect from Rippon and Widdrington on Saturday night.
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Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington will take on the Paso Doble in Week Eight
BBC
The pair have been tasked with performing the Paso Doble to Madonna's Hung Up.
Elsewhere, Ellie Leach will take on a Rumba, Nigel Harman has a Couple's Choice, Scanlon will perform a Waltz, Annabel Croft and Krishnan Guru-Murthy have Samba on the way, Layton Williams is tackling the Argentine Tango, and Bobby Brazier will dance the American Smooth.
