10 October 2023 , 13:12
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Sam Thompson has revealed he called the Strictly Come Dancing phone line 1,000 times in a bid to save Zara McDermott from getting the chop.
The Love Island star, 26, found herself in the bottom two along with pro partner, Graziano Di Prima on Sunday after the pair failed to impress the judges. Zara won the dance-off against Nikita Kanda, and returns to the competition next week. However, her boyfriend Sam, said she was 'visibly upset' when she returned home, admitting he'd done everything to keep in her the competition.
Speaking on his HITS UK show, he said: "It was really horrible to see her there. I voted like you wouldn’t believe! I literally called the number a thousand times - my arm hurt the amount I was calling, but to no avail." Admitting Zara had been affected by the results show, he continued: "She didn’t come back with tears flooding down her cheeks or anything, but she was visibly really upset, and I feel really bad for her."
Sam Thompson has revealed he called the Strictly Come Dancing phone line 1,000 times in a bid to save Zara McDermott from getting the chop (Instagram)
Zara found herself in the bottom two of the competition with Graziano Di Prima (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)The reality star and Graziano found themselves second to last on the leaderboard after their Paso Doble to The Puss Suite by Henry Jackman. Zara took to her Instagram on Sunday night after attending the Pride of Britain Awards with the Italian dancer and voiced her disappointment at nearly being knocked out of the show.
Sharing a slew of snaps of her performing the dance routine with her 'best friend' Graziano, clad in feline-themed costumes, she said: "We were totally gutted to be in the dance off this week. especially after putting our heart and soul and so many hours into our routine. Bless Graz, I have started with literally no dance or performance experience whatsoever and he has been putting all of his energy into teaching me, with so much kindness, patience and passion. For a moment I felt like I let him, myself and my family down but I reminded myself, this is what Strictly is all about!! You don’t have to be the best dancer, you just have to be willing to learn and have fun. And that’s exactly what I am."
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Speaking about the challenges of taking part in the BBC primetime show, Sam said: "You’ve got to be so brave to do a show like that, you really do. You can go again and next week you can be in the bottom two again and you’ve got to pick yourself back up, move forward and keep training with the same intensity. She came home and they always go ‘come back better and stronger next week’ and all that’s true, but if you do follow her on Instagram send her send her a little message and say ‘hey keep your head up you’re going to be OK.'"