Following their elimination from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night, Katya Jones and Mike Bushell have received an outpour of love and support from their fans. And on Monday, Katya shared her delight after being gifted a huge box of cupcakes - which had pictures of the pair's dances emblazoned across them. "Bringing back the memories," wrote the professional dancer. In the video, Mike could be heard saying: "Thank you Alison, you are amazing. Team Babushka, we will keep it going – this is just beautiful."
Katya Jones and Mike Bushell received the sweetest treats
The BBC sports presenter and his professional partner ended up in the bottom two for the fourth time after performing a Paso Doble to Tamacun by Rodrigo y Gabriela. In a surprise turn of events, the dance-off veterans were joined by RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage and her partner Giovanni Pernice, whose American Smooth to Etta James' I Just Want To Make Love to You had landed them in second place on Saturday's leaderboard.
READ: Mike Bushell's wife shuts down Strictly 'curse' idea and insists their marriage is 'secure'
After their exit, Katya took to her social media page to praise Mike for all his efforts the past few months. "Honestly it's so hard to find words to describe how proud I feel @mikebushellofficial," she said. "Or there's just too much I want to say! How you threw yourself into this wild experience, how you kept turning up every day with a smile on your face and positive energy no matter what, showing everyone that there’s no such thing as CAN'T, inspiring others with your example, going beyond what anyone expected from you, making me the lucky teacher to have such a fantastic student - is only few things that I admire you for.
"I take my hat off to you partner," she added. "I’ve had the most wonderful journey, and all I can hope for is that you did too and that memories that you will take away from this is something you can cherish forever! But most important and above all that- You have the KINDEST HEART and I don’t feel sad for us, I feel that it’s a beautiful celebration of what you have achieved!!! I will forever remain Mike Bushell number one fan! And we did CONGA as our last dance!!!!!!!!!!!!"
MORE: Strictly Come Dancing confirm their exciting 2020 tour line-up
Shortly after, Mike was forced to dismiss claims that he was relieved to be voted off. Recent reports suggested that the contestant was left with "barely anything… in the tank" following his participation in the show, and that continuing would have been daunting for him. But Mike was quick to insist how much he loved dancing every Saturday night.
Speaking to MailOnline, he explained: "I've loved every second of my Strictly journey, it's the best show ever and I was really hoping to be competing in Blackpool and beyond. I'm gutted to be out but at the same time wanted to leave with my head held high and gracious in defeat. When I was eliminated, I wanted to celebrate the journey I'd been on, and the fact that I'm so excited to be doing the tour shows that I want my Strictly journey to go on."
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.