Strictly’s Caroline Quentin takes the ax after a tense dance with Maisie Smith

Caroline Quentin was the fourth unfortunate celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing after a dance with Maisie Smith.

Outgoing actress Caroline, 60, who had scored 24 points on Saturday’s show, paid tribute to the show and her professional partner Johannes Radebe in her exit speech.

She said: “I have had the honor and privilege of working with some of the best dancers this country has ever known. I mean, I really think so, I think they are absolutely fantastic.

“But of course my biggest gift on this show is this man (Johannes).”

For the second week in a row despite a good score from the judges of 27 on Saturday, EastEnders star Maisie failed to win many public votes and had to be saved by the judges.

Previously, both couples performed their routines again at a dance with Caroline and her partner Johannes, Fontella Bass’s Cha Cha to Rescue Me, and Maisie and her partner Gorka Márquez performed their Meghan Trainor’s Salsa to Better When I’m Dancing in one go. to impress the judges and stay in the competition.

Judges Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke decided to save Maisie and Gorka, which means they were safe and Head Judge Shirley Ballas agreed and would have saved Maisie and Gorka as well.

Craig said: “I absolutely love both couples, but for me one couple was outstanding and danced as if their lives depended on it and that couple that I would like to save, Maisie and Gorka.”

Anton added: “Well, I thought both couples danced really well. I think they are beautiful couples who danced fabulous routines.

“One couple was a little cleaner than the other couple, there were a couple of mistakes there.

“So the couple I’d like to save is Maisie and Gorka.”

Ahead of Sunday’s show, in an interview over the weekend, Caroline, who took ballet lessons as a child, dismissed claims that her training gave her an edge over her co-stars at the start of the series.

She said: “I studied ballet when I was a kid and when you dance they teach you to turn your feet and the first thing I learned here is that your feet have to be parallel, so it’s like ‘cool’.

“The only thing I thought would really help is that I was scolded during my first dance.

“On the other hand, I think there is also a silver lining which is probably about demeanor and bearing and maybe the use of weapons and things like that.

“So it’s probably swings and roundabouts actually.

“I think it’s useful, but then a lot of things come in handy. Being quite musical, that helps a bit because you can follow a beat.

“I like to be taught things because it is the most useful, because I spend a lot of time with Johannes, who is trying to make me learn things that are not my skills.”

She also admitted that she was “stunned” by her inability to lose weight during her time on Strictly Come Dancing.

The Men Behaving Badly actress said rumors that contestants on the BBC One program lost “four stones in four days” were false.

She said, “I don’t think my life has changed much. It really hasn’t changed me that much physically.

“I am a little stronger, but all the rumors of losing four stones in four days are absolutely false.

“I’ve been working over five weeks and I’ve lost a pound and a half. I’m stunned. I’m actually stunned.

“I’m really joking, but I’m quite surprised because I move from dawn to dusk. Has my life changed that way? Not really, no.

“But the best thing that happened to me is that I met a person called Johannes and I really like him.”