Strictly Come Dancing professional AJ Pritchard has claimed he and Saffron Barker begged the show’s producers to get them out of performing a Samba on Saturday’s live show.
The pair found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard when they encountered some difficulties with the routine, pulling in their lowest score since the second week of the series.
Speaking to The Sun the day after the pair’s elimination was pre-recorded, AJ admitted that they knew they weren’t onto a winner, and had begged Strictly bosses to allow them to perform another dance instead.
He revealed: “We tried to get out of dancing the Samba but they wouldn’t let us.”
This year marks the third year in a row when AJ and his partner have been eliminated after performing a Samba, and when the tabloid asked whether he feels he is “cursed”, AJ responded: “You should ask production if they think that.”
In Sunday night’s results show, AJ and Saffron found themselves in the bottom two for the second week in a row, this time against Karim Zeroul and Amy Dowden, who had been joint top of the leaderboard.
The judges unanimously voted to save Karim and Amy, with Saffron later saying of her exit: “I’ve had the absolute time of my life and it’s all down to him. It’s been amazing.
“I’d like to thank AJ so much, when I look at what I was like on week one I was so embarrassed and shy. He’s really taken me out of my shell. Thank you so much for everything.”
Five couples now remain in the competition ahead of the upcoming quarter final, which will see the celebrities tackling routines set to songs from musicals.
