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In tonight's Strictly Come Dancing results show, Ann Widdecombe was voted off, becoming the ninth celebrity to leave the competition. The surprise survivor of this series has waltzed, spun and flown her way into the nation's hearts but finally, her dancing shoes have been hung up.

The combination of the judges' scores and viewer votes meant Ann and Scott Maslen were in the bottom two with Ann and her partner, Anton du Beke, being eliminated.

Of Ann and Anton's dance, the judges said:

Alesha Dixon: "It's nice to see a bit more dance content this week, which I think you coped with really really well. Well done on the lifts but, however, you're still hanging on to Anton for dear life.

"Your posture is terrible and, more than anything, you have no facial expressions. There's no emotion – it is a little bit grim. I didn't see any improvement this week and I'm afraid, for me, the honeymoon is over."

Bruno Tonioli: "Talk about hanging on… it was more like 'Hello Trolley' than 'Hello Dolly'. Anton was pushing Ann around like an overloaded trolley with tinsel falling out all over the place. Ann, when you were on your own you looked like a Dalek in drag. It's different, it's never been seen before – very entertaining.

Craig Revel Horwood: "I'm going to go for all the positives tonight – all the best moments for me were when your feet weren't touching the floor; your lift at the beginning was alright; the twist, spin thing you coped alright with, there was one chasse that was passable and one polka I didn't mind."

Len Goodman:" Well, dancing in its basic form is movement to music and you did move and there was music. Listen, I don't want to be nasty because you've given me fun. Snow gives you fun to start with but, eventually, you just want it to go away. That's how it is – sorry Ann."

After their elimination, Ann said: "I feel like I have had a jolly good time. This day was going to come, it has come, and they are delighted (judges). It has been tremendous – time of my life, it's been fantastic!"

The celebrities who also competed this week and escaped elimination were: Kara Tointon, Gavin Henson, Matt Baker, Scott Maslen and Pamela Stephenson.

Couples danced either a Jive, American Smooth, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot or a Paso Doble.

Tonight also saw a performance from Manic Street Preachers.

In next week's semi-final, all remaining couples will be dancing a Ballroom and a Latin dance as well as a swing-a-thon and two couples will be eliminated.

Notes to Editors

A selection of pictures of Ann's finest moments from this series of Strictly is available from the .

Strictly Come Dancing is available on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD.

Don't forget you can get all the up-to-date gossip on Strictly Come Dancing's sister show It Takes Two, weekdays at 6.30pm on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two.

Tune in to the next episodes on Friday 10 at 9pm, Saturday 11 December at 6pm and Sunday 12 December at 7pm.

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