Strictly Come Dancing has delivered its first elimination of 2026, with celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton becoming the first star to leave the BBC competition.
Appleton and his professional partner Amy Dowden landed in the bottom two alongside actress Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu after the judges' scores from the opening weeks were combined with the public vote.
According to The Guardian, Appleton and Dowden returned to the floor to perform their Baywatch inspired Cha Cha, while Winstone and Gu repeated their Pretty Woman themed routine.
The judges ultimately agreed on who should stay.
Winstone and Gu were saved unanimously, bringing Appleton's Strictly journey to an unexpectedly early end. The result was particularly striking because Winstone's appearance in the dance off also came as a surprise after she had performed more strongly on the leaderboard.
Appleton said his time on the programme had pushed him outside his comfort zone and expressed gratitude for the experience as he said goodbye to the competition.
The elimination followed the show's Movie Week, which saw the celebrity contestants perform routines inspired by famous films.
Interest in the programme exploded as viewers searched for the result on Sunday night. Google Trends showed more than 20,000 searches for "Strictly Come Dancing" within a short period, with searches accelerating sharply around the results show.
The 2026 season has already brought major changes to one of Britain's best known television programmes.
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe are presenting the new series after replacing longtime hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. The opening live show attracted an average audience of 4.8 million viewers and peaked at five million, according to figures reported by The Independent.
Fourteen celebrity couples now remain in the race for the Glitterball Trophy.
The competition returns next Saturday, October 10, when the surviving celebrities will once again attempt to avoid the dance off and keep their Strictly journey alive.
