Zara McDermott spoke up about the painful shock of once again being in the bottom two of Strictly Come Dancing and narrowly avoiding elimination.
Former Love Island star Nikita Kanda, 28, and professional partner Graziano Di Prima, 29, were eliminated in the first round, along with radio broadcaster Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marques, 33.
She sent Nikita packing but finished last week’s dance off against comedian Eddie Kadi, 40, despite his Men In Black performance receiving a perfect 10 from judge Shirley Ballas just two weeks before.
Zara and Graziano triumphed once more, while Eddie and partner Karen Hauer, 41, became the fourth pair to exit the programme, with the reality TV actress resorting to Instagram to express her feelings after yet another dramatic dance-off.
‘Being in the dance-off for the second time was definitely not the easiest moment of our Strictly journey so far,’ she wrote.
‘I think I let those nerves get the better of me during our performance, and I knew I could have done better.’
She heartbreakingly said she felt like she ‘let herself down’ as she walked off the dancefloor, and she believes she could have ‘pushed through those jelly legs’ to deliver more ‘both physically and mentally.’
‘But… the main thing is that we are so grateful to the judges for saving us,’ Zara continued.
‘I’m just not ready for this journey to be over, and the thought of leaving last night broke my heart.’
She stated that she and her dance partner had made a vow to themselves to ‘focus on controlling those jitters’ so that they would not finish in the bottom two again.
‘This week we will come back even stronger than before and I’m ready to be pushed out of my comfort zone to prove that I can take on that challenge, turn the negatives into positives, learn from the judges comments, and keep strong, even through the moments that feel the toughest,’ Zara reflected.
‘Dancing is my life at the moment, and I really don’t want that to change any time soon.’
Zara concluded her emotional post by saying it’s time for her to ‘work even harder and believe in herself that little bit more’ while also thanking Graziano for always believing in her, even when she doubts herself.
‘And on the plus side, we got to do the angel lift again, which is a win because we worked really hard on perfecting it,’ she added.
Zara and Graziano’s time on the programme has been a whirlwind as they enter week seven, with her suffering a terrible foot injury.
She and Graziano became fast friends while competing on Strictly, which she revealed to boyfriend Sam Thompson, 31, on his radio programme.
‘It’s really crazy like the bond and the relationship we’ve built, because you have to bypass all the awkward stage where you kind of like don’t know each other very well,’ she told Sam on his Hits UK show.
‘You have to dive straight in and take the time to get to know each other, learn about each other, learn about what works, how to explain yourself and express yourself to the other person.
‘It’s a really crazy relationship and bond that you build, that you literally become inseparable. And it’s the same for every other couple in the competition, everyone is with their partner, all the time. Because it’s like a safety blanket, they’re your teammate, they’re almost your comfort in this really overwhelming space.’
Sam has been there for his fiancée, whom he started seeing in 2019, and has commended Graziano for doing ‘wonders’ teaching her the movements.
‘Zara has never danced a day in her life. If there’s ever been someone who lacks a little bit of rhythm, before she joined Strictly, it’s Zara McDermott. The fact that Graziano has worked the wonders he has with her already is stunning and obviously you’re both my favourite people on Planet Earth at the moment, Zara you always will be,’ he said.
Source My Celebrity Life.