Nicky Byrne has become the ninth celebrity to be voted out of this year's Strictly Come Dancing.
The former Westlife singer and his professional dance partner Karen Hauer left the competition at the quarter-final stage after finishing in the bottom two alongside Denise Van Outen and James Jordan.
Following the dance-off, three of the judges gave a unanimous verdict to put Van Outen through to the semi-final next week.
With Craig Revel Horwood choosing to save Van Outen, Darcey Bussell said: "They were both very strong performances but I'm going to save Denise and James."
Bruno Tonioli added: "They both improved, but the outstanding couple were Denise and James."
Nicky Byrne said of his time in the BBC competition: "It has been just so much fun. It is the biggest and best show in the world. To come out every Saturday night is hard but it's playing a different character, doing a different dance - it's just been amazing.
"Karen, every week, every day has been incredible. We had a bit of a shaky start in terms of judges and stuff, but we just seemed to improve."
He added: "I have to say thank you to the judges - you have been absolutely amazing with all your advice. All the people backstage - even the people that get you your coffee. I am going to miss the whole thing, it's been an amazing experience."
Karen Hauer said: "I just want to say thank you to everyone - all the celebs and professional dancers. It's been my first year and I could not have asked for a better celeb - [to Nicky] you were amazing."
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday (December 15) at 6.30pm on BBC One.
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:02 pm