Sarah Storey, Julian Caillon, Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu on Strictly
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Third Strictly Come Dancing 2026 elimination sees Dame Sarah Storey and Bethany Antonia in dance-off

Sarah's time in the competition is over

Strictly Come Dancing fans have been left gutted after Dame Sarah Storey faced elimination from the show after ending up in the dance-off.

Her exit comes after two eliminations so far.

The Paralympian follows Melanie Walters and Chris Appleton in leaving the competition as it heats up.

Sarah Storey, Julian Caillon
Dame Sarah Storey has left Strictly Come Dancing (Credit: BBC)

Who left Strictly Come Dancing tonight?

Tonight’s results show saw Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon leave the competition.

Dame Sarah found herself in the bottom two alongside Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu.

During Saturday’s live show, Sarah and Julian scored 21 points for their tango to That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain.

But after finding themselves in the dance-off, the judges were left with the difficult decision of who to save.

Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood all opted to save Bethany and Nancy.

Had she been able to vote, Shirley Ballas would have saved Bethany and Nancy too.

That meant Sarah and Julian’s Strictly journey was over.

Viewers will get to hear from the pair on It Takes Two tomorrow (October 19).

Sarah Storey, Julian Caillon
Fans were sad to see Dame Sarah face Strictly Come Dancing elimination (Credit: BBC)

Fans sad as Sarah and Julian face elimination

Sharing their thoughts on X, viewers said they were sad to see Sarah and Julian go.

One person commented: “Gutted for Sarah.”

Another wrote: “Awww Julian is out, one of my fave pros. Sad to see him and Sarah go.”

A third said: “So so gutted for Dame Sarah and Julian though, they were such a lovely partnership and will be missed next week.”

Meanwhile, another person said: “This was the right decision, both couples improved in the dance-off but Bethany’s routine had more content and her legs were much better than the first time.”

Another added: “It was the right couple to be eliminated, Bethany was better than Sarah.”

Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr
Shaun scored his highest of the series last night (Credit: BBC)

What happened on Strictly Come Dancing last night?

Last night’s show saw the judges come under fire over their scoring.

Lacey Turner and Shaun Wright-Phillips finished just one point apart, much to the frustration of some viewers.

Many fans felt Lacey had been the stronger dancer and should therefore have received a higher score than Shaun.

“I don’t get how Shaun and Lacey both got 7s, and Lacey was way better than Shaun tonight,” one fan fumed.

“Lacey getting the same scores as Shaun from Craig Motsi and Shirley? What planet are these judges on? Lacey actually danced in time?” another wrote.

Read more: Strictly pro Amy Dowden hits back at Brendan Cole in new interview following his criticism of her

Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday October 24 from 630pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. 

Did the right person leave tonight? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.


Robert Emlyn Slater
Freelance Writer