{"id":228113,"date":"2025-10-27T12:10:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/228113\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T12:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:10:12","slug":"i-made-my-point-jimmy-floyd-hasselbaink-speaks-out-after-strictly-elimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/228113\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I made my point\u2019: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink speaks out after Strictly elimination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>Former Chelsea and Leeds United striker <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/jimmy-floyd-hasselbaink\">Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink<\/a> has said he proved that \u201ca footballer can dance\u201d following his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/strictly-jimmy-floyd-hasselbaink-viewers-b2852689.html\">shock elimination<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/strictly-come-dancing\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Strictly Come Dancing<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The 53-year-old Dutchman and his professional partner Lauren Oakley were <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/jimmy-floyd-hasselbaink-eliminated-strictly-b2852692.html\">ousted from the competition<\/a> on Sunday\u2019s results show (26 October), after finding themselves in a dance off against West End star <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/amber-davies\">Amber Davies<\/a> and her partner Nikita Kuzmin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile I left earlier than I\u2019d hoped, I walk away proud of what I achieved. In just a few weeks, I made my point \u2013 a footballer can dance, it\u2019s more than okay to put yourself out there,\u201d he wrote on Instagram. <\/p>\n<p>Hasselbaink thanked Oakley from \u201cthe bottom of my heart\u201d for her time spent training him up for the Strictly ballroom. \u201cYour talent, patience, and belief in me made this journey unforgettable,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDancing with you has been a privilege, and I&#8217;ll always be grateful for the way you lifted me up and helped me grow.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The former footballer added that it had been \u201ca pleasure\u201d to get to know the other Strictly contestants. \u201cI\u2019ll be cheering everyone on from the sidelines. Keep dancing and keep shining,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Hasselbaink\u2019s early Strictly departure came as a surprise to viewers, as the sports star achieved a personal best score of 30 on Saturday and hadn\u2019t appeared in the bottom two during the first weeks of the competition.<\/p>\n<p>When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show following his elimination, Hasselbaink said: \u201cI have absolutely loved my experience &#8230;I never expected that I would enjoy it this much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/540141.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley dance during 'Icons Week' on Strictly\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/>Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley dance during &#8216;Icons Week&#8217; on Strictly (BBC)<\/p>\n<p>Hasselbaink signed for Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in 2000, scoring 87 goals in 177 games for the West London side. He had previously played for Leeds, where he scored 42 goals in 87 games. After four seasons at Stamford Bridge, he went on to play for Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City before retiring in 2008. <\/p>\n<p>He now follows in the footsteps of rugby player Chris Robshaw, TV star Ross King and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/thomas-skinner-strictly-social-media-post-x-b2846174.html\">divisive internet personality Thomas Skinner<\/a> as the first celebrities eliminated from the 2025 series.<\/p>\n<p>The remaining 10 couples will return to the ballroom for next week\u2019s Halloween special, on Saturday 1 November at 6.35pm, with the results show on Sunday 2 November at 7.15pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-228113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}