Les Dennis has spoken of his grief after learning of the death of a much-loved co-star - just hours after learning he'd been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu were sadly sent home

In her weekly column reviewing this year's Strictly Come Dancing, Vanessa Feltz gives her verdict on the first elimination of the series and the testy reaction to the line-up from the star-studded panel.

After an opening week with no public vote, the judges’ scores have led to Les Dennis becoming the first celebrity to depart the dancefloor in ‘Strictly Come Dancing 2023’.

All four judges voted unanimously in the first bottom two of the year

All four judges voted unanimously in the first bottom two of the year

Radio presenter Nikita Kanda and former Family Fortunes host Les Dennis were the lowest-scoring dancers.

Who succumbed to the first dance-off?

Les Dennis was the first to leave Strictly Come Dancing 2023 followed by Nikita Kanda and Jody Condy - here's a full list of who has left the show every Sunday night

Les Dennis becomes the first celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly Come Dancing 2023 has kicked out its first celebrity of the series, with judges Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas all agreeing on who should go.

It was a very tense dance off

SPOILER

For the first time this series the voting lines were opened on Strictly Come Dancing with two couples facing the dreaded dance off.

Strictly Come Dancing aired its first results show with two couples participating in the first dance-off of the series but it all became too much as Les Dennis was sent home

While two couples battled it out in the dance-off, viewers were distracted by Anton's choice of footwear

Les Dennis and Nikita Kanda became the first celebrities to face the dreaded dance-off on Strictly Come Dancing tonight.

The first results show wasn't short of drama before the dance-off even took place