presenter Tess Daly<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s been more than I could have ever wished for.<\/p>\n\u201cIf someone would have said that I\u2019d have done 11 weeks on the show at the beginning, I\u2019d have been over the moon and snap their hand off.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, thank you to the full show, to everyone for having a space where people can be themselves, grow, learn, express themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been incredible and a memory that I\u2019ll have for the rest of my life, and (to Katya) I think it\u2019s all down to you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve literally given me absolutely everything I could wish for as a friend, as a teacher, and, yeah, I couldn\u2019t imagine it with anybody else. So, thank you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/01KBWECFR4FGPESQ75J4MSR4QT.jpeg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Lewis Cope is surrounded by the other contestants after being eliminated (Guy Levy\/BBC\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Jones said: \u201cI think you have created so many moments for Strictly Come Dancing that will be in the history books and you will be remembered as one of, if not, the best male celebrity we\u2019ve ever had on the show, but also you will be remembered for being an incredible person, you are.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind and genuine people still exist \u2013 what a gentleman you are, so humble and so kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so glad that we had a chance to see you and showcase your talent, and what a beautiful person you are to the world. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about the support he had received, Cope said: \u201cThis show, I\u2019ve seen how it\u2019s brought people together, not just in my family, but it seems to lift people up.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s definitely brought my family, four generations, together every Saturday night \u2013 my nana Dot sitting there smiling all the time.<\/p>\n
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/01KBWECFNZ5WGA7M022XF1QEQH.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Lewis Cope said competing had been \u2018more than I could have ever wished for\u2019 (Guy Levy\/BBC\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, young boys who thought that dancing wasn\u2019t accessible for them or whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey started dancing now and have sent us videos. If you can change one person\u2019s life like that, then that\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans said they were \u201cgutted\u201d to see Cope exit, branding him \u201csuperb\u201d and suggesting he could have gone onto win the competition. <\/p>\n
\u201cHope you are inundated with offers,\u201d one fan wrote. \u201cBest celebrity ever on Strictly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m heartbroken for him because he was an incredible dancer,\u201d another viewer said. \u201cSadly the theme and song let him down tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
One fan called it \u201cone of the biggest travesties in the history of Strictly\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cTonight we said an emotional goodbye to Lewis Cope, one of the best male celebs on the show,\u201d fan Ryan said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo sorry to see you go Lewis! You gave us some truly ICONIC performances and will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Lewis-Cope.png\")
<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Lewis and Katya were fan-favourites on the show (BBC)<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s results show also featured the Strictly professionals dancing a group number to \u201cCell Block Tango\u201d from Chicago and there was another performance from the cast of the Olivier Award-winning musical Titanique.<\/p>\n
The remaining four couples will perform during next weekend\u2019s semi-final, airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 6.35pm on Saturday with the results show at 7.45pm next Sunday.<\/p>\n
Each couple will perform two new routines and there will be performances from Australian singer Kylie Minogue and boyband Five.<\/p>\n
Cope and Jones will be on Strictly companion show It Takes Two on Monday at 6.30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-304748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304748","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=304748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/01KBWEC8B48KB9E042N55T75RD.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n