Shirley Ballas Sends Bethany Antonia Home. Cach Mercer Survives

Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu are out of Strictly Come Dancing. They lost Sunday night's dance-off to Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby, and they are the sixth couple to leave the 2026 series. Antonia and Xu danced their foxtrot to Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love again, the routine that scored 30 on Saturday and left them joint fourth on the judges' leaderboard. Mercer and Ingoldsby repeated a waltz to That Ain't You, which scored 26 and put them joint last with John Nellis. The public vote, not the paddles, put Antonia in the dance-off. The judges then split.

Anton Du Beke voted to save Mercer and Ingoldsby. Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse voted to save Antonia and Xu. Head judge Shirley Ballas had the casting vote and saved Mercer. A 30 lost to a 26. That is allowed. The dance-off is a second performance and a judges' decision, not a recount of Saturday's cards. Sunday morning's leaderboard had Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin top on 36 for an American smooth, and it warned that a quiet public vote could put a 30 in the bottom two. It did.

She had been saved before

Antonia has been here. In Icons Week the judges saved her and Xu when Dame Sarah Storey became the third celebrity to leave. On Halloween they were in the bottom three again, with Lawrence Robb and Jaime Winstone, and they survived the show's first three-couple dance-off. Robb went. Antonia stayed. Sunday was the third time the public had put her in danger, and the first time the head judge did not. Mercer, a Love Island name who has lived at the bottom of the judges' board, stays. Nellis, joint last on 26 with him, was not in the dance-off at all.

The results show was built for Remembrance Sunday. The professionals danced a group routine, choreographed by Lizzie Gough and inspired by the monument to the women of the Second World War, to the Peter Gabriel arrangement of Heroes. Gregory Porter sang, with Alexis Warr and Aljaz Skorjanec dancing. Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe hosted. Antonia and Xu are due on It Takes Two this evening at 6.30pm on BBC Two, with Ellie Taylor, to talk through the exit. That is the programme's usual next room. It is not a way back.

A bye, a jungle, and next Saturday

Jaime Winstone did not dance this weekend. On medical advice she and Carlos Gu had a bye. Listings coverage says a doctor still has to clear her return. If she is not cleared, she can be withdrawn. Nine couples remain if she comes back, fewer if she does not. The next live show is on BBC One on Saturday 14 November, with listings putting it at 6.25pm. The results show is on Sunday evening. The series has already lost Dame Sarah Storey, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lawrence Robb, and three couples before them. The halfway point is now behind the show.

I'm a Celebrity still sits behind this. ITV has not confirmed a line-up. The launch remains Monday 16 November at 9pm. For the ballroom, the week is simpler than Sunday looked at breakfast. The name is known. Mercer dances again. Antonia does not.