Strictly’s Bobby Brazier speaks out after tearful dance-off experience

‘EastEnders’ star beat Angela Rippon in the Blackpool dance-off

Bobby Brazier has spoken candidly about the “humbling” experience of his first Strictly Come Dancing dance-off, which saw his partner Dianne Buswell in tears.

Saturday (18 November) night saw Strictly heading up to Blackpool for their annual celebration in the seaside town’s historic Tower Ballroom. You can read the biggest talking points from the night here.

All seven remaining couples danced again, with EastEnders star Brazier scoring his highest marks of the series for his Jive. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the actor, 20, from finding himself in the bottom two with presenter Angela Rippon, 79.

Rippon and partner Kai Widdrington had found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard for their American Smooth, with all four judges voting to save Brazier and Buswell during Sunday (19 November) night’s results show.

On Sunday night, after the dance-off aired, Brazier opened up to his followers about being in the bottom of two. Fans had expressed concern after Brazier and Buswell looked shocked to find themselves dancing again on Sunday, with Buswell crying into her partner’s chest as the judges made their votes.

In a clip shared to his Instagram Stories, the model – who had never watched Strictly before competing in the series – told his followers: “I took a lot away from the dance-off,” he said. “It was something I was avoiding the whole time, but that 20 minutes [was] possibly the most intense 20 minutes of my life, where I was having realisation after realisation.

Brazier shared the note to Instagram (Bobby Brazier/Instagram)

“I took a lot away from that, and I’m happy to go through to another week, of course… but I’m happy I don’t have to do the Jive again.”

Brazier explained that he was excited to do his Couple’s Choice routine next week, before continuing: “Finally I’ve now realised, because I’ve now experienced it, no-one is safe. Despite seeing you guys’ support for me just grow week in and week out, you’re still not safe, you know?

“So the votes and stuff are a big part of that, and I’m very grateful for everyone who does vote week in, week out. And I definitely don’t now have a sense of complacency, or a sense of security, or a sense of feeling like I can just rely on you guys.”

Brazier joked that it wasn’t a “life or death” situation, adding: “But I really do wanna stick around for as long as possible and just keep dancing because this is a truly unique experience and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… I hope this will last a little bit longer.”

The actor also shared a photo of a handwritten note, which read: “Thank you for helping me dance my ‘personal best’ and highest scoring dance, opening the show at Blackpool. Thank you for humbling me.” He captioned the picture: “An eventful evening.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 25 November at 7.30pm on BBC One.