Strictly Come Dancing 2016: Greg Rutherford and Natalie Lowe are the ninth couple to leave

Ed Balls survives Blackpool!



Greg Rutherford and Natalie Lowe were the casualties of Blackpool Week as they became the ninth couple to leave Strictly Come Dancing.

The dreaded dance off was a battle of the Olympians as Greg and Natalie faced off against Claudia Fragapane and AJ Pritchard, after the judges' scores were combined with the results of the viewers' vote.

It marked Greg's second week in a row in the dance off and Claudia's first. It meant that after his Jive, Ed Balls again avoided the bottom two, despite finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Greg and Natalie Quickstepped to 'Hand Jive' by Cha Na Na, while Claudia and AJ performed their Jive to Toni Basil's 'Hey Mickey'.

On Saturday's show, Claudia and AJ scored 36 points to Greg and Natalie's 32, so it was no surprise to see the judges vote unanimously to save Claudia and AJ, after they couldn't decide last week.

Following his exit, Greg described Strictly as "one of the most incredible things" he's ever done and praised his dance partner.

"The only reason I have made it this far is because of Natalie's patience and good will, and genuinely I don't think anybody could have spent as much time trying to teach me like she did because I'm not very good at this, but I try hard," he enthused.

Natalie added: "You are an amazing man, you've never had any dance experience and you got out there and you've just shown the world that you can dance. I wouldn't have changed it for the world."

Sunday's results show also saw two musical performances from Rick Astley and Simple Minds, as well as a very exciting announcement for next week's show, which will see the first ever Cha Cha Challenge.

Strictly Come Dancing continues next Saturday (November 26) at 7pm on BBC One. Will anyone match Danny Mac's perfect 40 at Blackpool?