Strictly fans were in shock on Sunday night when popular couple Dianne Buswell and Dev Griffin were eliminated in week three of the competition. The pair were visibly devastated, with Dianne in tears during their farewell dance, while Dev admitted that he was gutted to be going home. The rest of the Strictly cast were equally as upset on their behalf, and Mike Bushell has since opened up about what really happened backstage following his co-star's exit. Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Monday morning, Katya Jones' dance partner said: "There was definite real shock. There's always great sadness when one of you goes because you become such a close-knit family," he said. "We're not really competing with each other to be honest, we're competing against ourselves to better our own performances."
Strictly's Dianne Buswell and Dev Griffin were devastated to be leaving the show in week three
Mike – who received his first nine of the series from judge Motsi Mabuse on Saturday – added: "Dev is a brilliant dancer and they did some fantastic performances, especially last week with Aladdin. So to lose Dev and Dianne was a real shock and there was general numbness really that this had happened." The celebrity contestant also admitted that Chris Ramsey had voiced his surprise to him that they had both stayed in the competition rather than Dev. "Chris Ramsey actually said to me, 'No disrespect Mike, but there's us, two dance dancers, up here and one of the best dancers Dev is going home.'"
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Mike Bushell revealed the atmosphere was numb after Dianne and Dev's exit
Dev and Dianne were in a dance-off with Aljaz Skorjanec and Viscountess Emma Weymouth – who all four judges voted to save. Mike added that he was equally as surprised that they were having to dance again, stating: "But a real shock to lose Dev and Dianne or indeed it would have been to lose Emma and Aljaz." He also believed that Dev and Dianne had bad luck when it came to their place on the leaderboard, as they weren't at the bottom but not at the top either, meaning that the couple with the least amount of votes are most likely to get the public behind them to help them. However, many fans have argued that the phone line for Dev and Dianne was down when they tried to vote.
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Dianne was so upset after the results show that she was unable to appear on the Strictly podcast, which is hosted by her boyfriend Joe Sugg and the show's producer Kim Winston. Instead, Dev chatted to the pair alone, where he praised the show while admitting again that he was sad to leave so soon.
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