Strictly‘s Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova broke their silence after becoming the first couple to leave the BBC series on Sunday.
The Olympian, 24, and pro dancer, 35, took to their respective Instagrams with gushing tributes following their ‘devastating’ early exits.
Fans were left furious after the judges chose to save Toyah Wilcox, 66, over Tom despite her being at the bottom of the leaderboard and being bookies favourite for the chop.
Sharing a snap of the pair Nadiya wrote: ‘I want to say thank you for all the amazing messages tonight. Tom had so much to give and I had so much I wanted to teach him.
‘His improvement in the last 2 weeks has been incredible and I think, actually I know, he could have become a brilliant dancer. I’m devastated that you won’t get to see that’.
Strictly ‘s Tom Dean, 24, and Nadiya Bychkova, 35, broke their silence after becoming the first couple to leave the BBC series on Sunday
The Olympian and pro dancer took to their respective Instagrams with gushing tributes following their ‘devastating’ early exits
Fans were left furious after the judges chose to save Toyah Wilcox, 66, over Tom despite her being at the bottom of the leaderboard and being bookies favourite for the chop
She continued: ‘My 3-time Olympic Champion was an amazing student and is a wonderful gentleman. He will go on to bigger and better things and I know this year he could have had a brilliant Strictly story’.
‘I love this show and I want to wish the other couples all the best and I’m sure it’s going to be a great series. Thank you for your kindness’.
While Tom shared his own candid snaps and said: ‘Coming straight from the Paris 2024 Olympics into Strictly Come Dancing has been a whirlwind but I’m so so proud’
‘The journey may have ended a little earlier than I hoped and of course I am so gutted, but I’m so grateful for all the amazing people I met, people I’ll be cheering on throughout and who I know will continue to smash it’
‘And to my brilliant partner @nadiyabychkova , thank you so much for everything. You’ve been an amazing teacher and to have danced alongside you has been an absolute privilege. Over and out Strictly! You’ve been an absolute blast x’
Taking to X, fans struggled to understand the judges’ decision branding it ‘bizarre’ and claimed the Olympic legend had been ‘robbed’.
Writing: ‘Tom did NOT deserve to go. So gutted for him!’: ‘I’m shook why would they vote for Toyah?’: ‘Ridiculous’: ‘I don’t understand the decision at all, justice for Tom’: ‘Fumin’: ‘Why Shirley? WHY?’.
More said: ‘That Strictly Come Dancing result, ridiculous’: ‘No, no, no no… shook that Tom has gone! Wrong decision in my opinion!’: ‘What a bizarre and incorrect dance off result’: ‘Timing and clarity? How about some actual steps that are required in the dance? There was no Jive [in Toyah’s routine]. Tom was robbed’
Tom shared a clip of the pair during rehearsals ahead of Saturday’s show
In another image he modelled his snazzy pink outfit from the first episode
The pair appeared to have grown close with Nadiya saying he was ‘devastated’ viewers would not get to see Tom’s improved skills on the dancefloor
Another candid snap showed them with Janette Manrara (L) on spin-off series It Takes Two
Nadiya wrote: ‘I want to say thank you for all the amazing messages tonight. Tom had so much to give and I had so much I wanted to teach him.
While Tom shared his own candid snaps and said: ‘Coming straight from the Paris 2024 Olympics into Strictly Come Dancing has been a whirlwind but I’m so so proud’
When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Tom said: ‘I’ve had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible.
‘I wish I could have gone further and done more dances.
‘I’ve had the most fun and I wish we could keep going longer and longer. We’ll still go out for loads of brunches I’m sure.’
Tom’s professional dance partner Nadiya added: ‘To get to know him, he’s not just a three-time Olympic champion he’s a true gentleman and he taught me how to work really hard and how to put everything in.
‘And you know what? On this programme, sometimes to win, you don’t need to win, and that’s how I feel this year.’
Earlier in the day the news of Tom’s exit had been leaked, leading to more fans expressing their confusion.
They said on X: ‘How can they save who they saved, seriously?!’ ‘Give over… This makes me so sad.’, ‘Sorry but what that Strictly spoiler,’.
Tom was given the boot after Craig Revel Horwood , Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas pointed out his lack of timing
Both couples performed their routines again; Tom and Nadiya took on their Cha Cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire then Toyah and Neil performed their Jive to Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner
With two votes for Toyah and Neil, and one vote for Tom and Nadiya, head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and chose to save Toyah and Neil
Taking to X, fans struggled to understand the decision branding it ‘bizarre’ and claimed the Olympic legend had been ‘robbed’
During their perfomance on Saturday’s show Nadiya suffered an awkward wardrobe malfunction when her skin-tight sequinned jumpsuit to rip between her legs.
As they faced the judges where host Tess pointed out the awkward gaffe saying: ‘Her costume! we had a costume malfunction it ripped on her leg!’.
As Nadiya giggled, judge Shirley couldn’t help but heap praise on Tom and gushed how ‘coped and carried on carried on’ during the mishap.
Elsewhere Neil took a savage dig at partner Toyah, after the pair found themsleves at the bottom of last week’s leaderboard with just 12 points.
After JB Fletcher’s perfomance saw him score a whopping 27 out of 40, partner Amy Dowden revealed she’d kept him from making mistakes, by charging him a pound every time.
Hitting back Neil quipped: ‘If we did the same with [last week’s] tango, I’d be a millionaire by now!’.
Meanwhile Tasha Ghouri left father Tarek in tears as she topped the leader board and made history after scoring the highest ever for a Viennese waltz in week two.
The Love Island star, 26, performed with pro partner Aljaž Škorjanec, 34, in what the judges branded the ‘dance of the night’.
During their perfomance on Saturday’s show Nadiya suffered an awkward wardrobe malfunction when her skin-tight sequinned jumpsuit to rip between her legs
As they faced the judges where host Tess pointed out the awkward gaffe saying: ‘Her costume! we had a costume malfunction it ripped on her leg!’
While Neil took a savage dig at partner Toyah after the pair found themsleves at the bottom of last week’s leaderboard with just 12 points
Anton Du Beke gushed that he ‘couldn’t find anything bad’ in the performance, while Motsi agreed: ‘That was the best dance of the night! I absolutely loved it!’.
Tasha’s father who was sat in the audience appeared visibly emotional as his daughter also struggled to choke back tears following the feedback.
When preparing to hear their scores host Claudia Winkleman said: ‘What made it more emotional was watching your dad, sobbing, watching you’.
Strictly Come Dancing 2024: Who are the couples?
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
