Call the Midwife star in shock exit from Strictly

Helen George and her professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec have become the tenth couple to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.



The pair found themselves in the dance-off against Georgia May Foote and Giovanni Pernice after the judges' scores were combined with the viewers' votes.

Helen and Aljaž performed their Paso Doble to 'At the End of the Day' from Les Misérables, while Georgia and Giovanni danced their foxtrot to Beauty and the Beast.

Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli all voted to save Georgia and Giovanni, sending Helen and Aljaž home.

It marked the first time that either couple had been in the dance-off. with Georgia's inclusion arguably the most surprising given that she finished joint second of the leaderboard with Kellie Bright and Kevin Clifton.

After her exit, Helen said her time on the show has been "amazing" and that she never expected to get as far as the quarter-final.

"The final of anything was great for me and I'm in splendid company," she noted. "I'm just taking away lots of friendships with me. It's been a great life experience and I've learnt a lot about myself during this process and got an awful lot out of it."

Helen also praised her professional partner Aljaž: "You are an incredible partner, a great, great teacher and choreographer and more importantly, the most amazing man and friend anyone can ask for on Strictly."

Aljaž added: "I absolutely loved every single week. You amazed me with the level of your professionalism, with the level of commitment to every single dance and it was a pure joy."

Helen concluded by saying that she was rooting for all five couples left in the competition and can't pick a favourite: "There are five of them left now which makes them like the Spice Girls, and I couldn't pick just one of the Spice Girls which I liked the most!"

Josh Groban performed on the results show, which also saw a group performance from the Strictly professional dancers with the cast of The Lion King musical.

The semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing airs next weekend on Saturday, December 12 at 6.50pm and Sunday, December 13 at 7.20pm on BBC One.