Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell has admitted she feels “gutted” after her dance routine with partner Bobby Brazier “didn’t go to plan”.
The BBC dancer and EastEnders actor danced the salsa to the song (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life from 1987’s Dirty Dancing last night.
The routine, which landed them a score of 34, was praised as “one of the most difficult” by head judge Shirley Ballas, while Craig Revel Horwood felt it had “failed” because Dianne wasn’t able to raise her arms into the air during the dance’s iconic lift.
Taking to Instagram, Dianne shared a picture of their dance with her 979,000 followers after many viewers noticed the lift hadn’t quite taken off.
“Gutted the LIFT didn’t go to plan like it had in most rehearsals But i do have to say we took a risk and didn’t play it safe that dance was hard and so iconic that of course there was pressure to do it justice,” she wrote. “And the feeling of just not quite getting it was a bit low for us .
“HOWEVER,” she continued. “Bobby wanted to challenge himself and so did i and that is success and growth in its self…
“Let’s focus on the amazing parts of the dance the fact bobby was leading me around the floor his hips foot work expression and just overall improvement for a guy who started dancing only 11 weeks ago is incredible!
“Your strength your movement has improved so so much and i’m sure so many people agree.
“We are so excited and grateful to be dancing in the semi finals next week . but i also send my love to nigel and katya who have been incredible this whole competition,” she concluded with heart and prayer emojis. (sic)
Dianne’s fans and friends took to the comments section to send her messages of support ahead of next week’s nail-biting semi-final.
Former Strictly pro James Jordan wrote: “It’s such a difficult lift especially with the added pressure – such a shame but it was a fantastic job of probably the most famous dance in history – gave me goosebumps from the nostalgia.” (sic)
Mandie commented: “Lovely words ….it’s was amazing … Bobby has done amazingly for non dancer ….plus That’s along way up there with Bobby’s height.” (sic)
Niki penned: “You only succeed when you challenge yourself. It was amazing! You both did a fantastic job.”
Jon added: “You guys absolutely SMASHED it. My favourite dance of the night personally. Anyone criticising doesn’t appreciate how hard that lift is. Also I am pretty sure Swayze didn’t do it in his first attempt either.” (sic)
Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.