Fourth Strictly star axed as he issues heartfelt statement after shock dance-off

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has been named as the latest celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing. On Sunday night (October 26), the football ace and his dance partner, Lauren Oakley, were booted from the BBC dance competition following the dreaded dance-off against Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin. Both couples performed their routines again for the Icons-themed episode.

Jimmy and Lauren took on their American Smooth, which they performed to Prince's hit single, Purple Rain. Meanwhile, Amer and Nikita performed their Cha Cha to Ariana Grande's number one song, Break Free.

After both couples danced their hearts out, all four judges voted to save Amber and Nikita when they delivered their final verdicts, ultimately bidding farewell to the sportsman. Before their farewell performance, Jimmy took the time to praise his dance partner on the show.

He gushed: "I have absolutely loved my experience. I can only say thank you very much for letting me have this experience, and to my daughters for pushing me to come here and do this.

"I never expected that I would enjoy it this much. The people behind the scenes, from the wardrobe people to the hairdressers to the make-up people, are absolutely magnificent - thank you very much.

"This experience is going to live with me forever. Most importantly, [to Lauren], this girl is just absolutely incredible. She has been absolutely amazing with me. [To Lauren] You are a diamond."

When Tess asked Lauren how much she had enjoyed teaching Jimmy, Lauren admitted: "Oh, I enjoyed it so much, and I am absolutely gutted that it's come to an end. We've had so many laughs. We have had the best time, and I am so proud of how far he has come."

"And it proves that anyone can be a dancer if you put your mind to it. He's a footballer! And he just danced like that. We've had the best time, and I'm just so proud and I feel honoured to have been able to teach you. You've been an amazing student."

Jimmy - who received his highest score in the competition so far - added: "The only thing you can do is dance as best as you can, and then it's up to the public. I was actually quite happy to dance again because I wanted to do better than my previous one. So listen, I have had a blast. From the people up there [pointing to the other couples], to the judges - thank you very much for your comments."

As the dramatic scenes hit the airwaves, viewers flocked to X - formerly known as Twitter - to share their thoughts on his elimination online. One user penned: "I knew whatever the result was, it was going to hurt, but IT'S SO MUCH WORSE THAN I FEARED [crying emoji]."

Another agreed: "TBH, I am not surprised about Amber. I can't warm to her, and the general public will always vote for celebs with no dance experience. I'm gutted for Jimmy, though. I loved his partnership with Lauren."

A third echoed: "Jimmy being in the dance off, full stop, is one of those incredibly undeserved moments. Easily in the top half of performers and seemed to be quite popular. The fact that he had to go up against Amber makes it even worse, as he was never going to survive that."

A fourth chimed in with: "JIMMY??????? So undeserved, he was improving week by week. I'm gutted for him. But then again, Amber shouldn't have been anywhere near the dance off!!"