Karen Hauer and Eddie Kadi delighted viewers and judges with their routines, including earning a 10 from head judge Shirley Ballas for their Couple's Choice, but their Strictly dream sadly ended on Sunday night.
Taking to social media, professional dancer Karen paid an emotional tribute to her partner, with whom she'd quickly become close.
On Instagram, she shared a carousel of behind-the-scenes photos of the couple, which she captioned: "To my best friend… @comeddiekadi. No one really gets to see the real Eddie behind the scenes.
The man that works hard day in day out. Even on those rainy days that you didn’t feel like smiling or telling a joke, you still pulled through and stayed true to yourself. Thank you for your friendship and your unconditional attention and support."
Karen's co-star Gorka Marquez sweetly responded: "Team! [heart and clapping emojis]" while former contestant Nikita Kanda added: "You are both amazing humans," and a viewer chimed in: "Really don’t think you deserved to go [crying emoji]".
Karen paid tribute to Eddie after they became the fourth couple to leave Strictly
The dancer also took to her Instagram Stories, where she shared a photo of herself and Eddie that she captioned: "Thank you to everyone who supported us on our Strictly journey, we love you all." ".
It's been a challenging time for the star, who recently ditched her wedding ring amid reports that she had split from her third husband, Jordan Wyn-Jones, who she married last year.
Last weekend, Karen thanked fans for their support after she appeared visibly upset on the show. She and Eddie were forced to dance off against Jowita Przystal and Jody Cundy, and after being saved by the judges, Karen expressed her gratitude to her followers.
The 41-year-old wrote on Instagram: "Well that was a close call…" She went on: "Happy to be coming back to the dance floor with my best pal and partner in dance crime @comeddiekadi." She added: "I'll always be proud of you [hands together emoji]. Thank you for all your lovely comments and support [heart emoji]."
Fans were quick to comment, with one writing: "You both should be incredibly proud, such a beautiful dance!! Keep your head held high girl, you're truly inspiring and deserve all the happiness in the world. I can't wait to see you stronger than ever next week."
In this week's dance-off, Karen and Eddie faced Zara McDermott and Graziano di Prima. Karen and Eddie performed a Samba to Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez, Zara and Graziano's American Smooth to LeAnn Rimes' hit Can't Fight The Moonlight impressed judges more.
Craig Revel Horwood said: "For me, the quality of dance in this couple was far superior and the couple I would like to save is Zara and Graziano." Motsi Mabuse added: "It came down to details and I would love to save Zara and Graziano."
Anton Du Beke said: "I thought both couples danced very, very well but for me with a slightly cleaner technique, I'd like to save Zara and Graziano." Head Judge Shirley Ballas also said she would have saved Zara and Graziano.
When asked by co-host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Eddie responded: "I've really enjoyed this, it's something I’ve always wanted to do – I love dancing. This has been the highest moment of my career – it’s the happiest I’ve ever been, but not just for me… my little baby girl is at home doing the Men in Black dance. More importantly, this little African boy, I just wanted my culture to shine."
Paying tribute to his dance partner, he sweetly called Karen "this wonderful Queen," and the star was visibly moved.
"You are a treasure, I'm going to miss you," she told him, before adding: "Well, I'll see you tomorrow! We're going to take up Congolese dancing. I just want to thank you so much for being so positive and bringing such light and smiling, just a beauty to all of us, I want to thank you so much."