Olympic champion Adam Peaty and his professional dance partner Katya Jones came within 1 point of elimination during week two of the competition of British show Strictly Come Dancing.
They performed a quickstep to “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet, adding in a display of Peaty’s athleticism with a press-up where he launched himself over Katya as she rolled under him.
This was the first elimination week of the season and Peaty and Jones earned a score of 19 out of 40. This was new for the pair who was coming off a very strong first week where they notched the second-highest score with 30 points.
“You did have one or two little mistakes,” judge Shirley Ballas said, specifying that he could use “just a little bit more ease” during the dance.
Teams were ranked based on their week 1 and week 2 scores so while actress Nina Wadia and dancer Neil Jones were sent home for their tango which earned 18 points, Peaty and Jones finished 7th due to their high score last week.
As if the Quickstep wasn't hard enough, Adam and Katya threw press ups in the mix! #Strictly @adam_peaty @mrs_katjones pic.twitter.com/5lL4EzWRS1
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) October 2, 2021
“Thank you for your support everyone!” Peaty wrote on social media. “I’m working the hardest I can and really struggled on that one! Can’t wait for this next dance.”
Thankyou for your support everyone! I’m working the hardest I can and really struggled on that one! Can’t wait for this next dance 🕺🏼 https://t.co/JW3s01amAy
— Adam Peaty OBE (@adam_peaty) October 3, 2021
Regardless, they made it safely to week 3 and while their dance has not been announced yet, the theme will be movies.
I’m afraid you’ve not mastered the strictly scoring system…
For the first elimination, it was based on the dances from the first two weeks. Adam was =7th out of 14 contestants in the judges’ scores.
Those count for half the weighting with the rest of the ranking determined by viewer votes.
They only reveal the bottom two each week who then compete in a knock out dance with the TV judges deciding who stays.
Adam will have been very comfortably safe – I’d be very surprised if he isn’t still involved in at least 6 weeks time (ie after ISL play offs have started)
Yes, that’s much better Adam