Olympic swimmer Tom Dean was the first celebrity contestant to be eliminated from the 2024 series of Strictly Come Dancing and while he is "gutted", the 24-year-old said he had "an absolute blast" on the show.
Taking to Instagram following Sunday night's results programme, which saw the triple gold medalist and his dance partner Nadiya Bychkova go head-to-head with Toyah Willcox and pro dancer Neil Jones in the dance-off, Tom penned in a statement: "Coming straight from the Paris 2024 Olympics into Strictly Come Dancing has been a whirlwind but I'm so so proud.
"The journey may have ended a little earlier than I hoped and of course, I am so gutted, but I'm so grateful for all the amazing people I met, people I'll be cheering on throughout and who I know will continue to smash it."
Sharing his appreciation for Nadiya, he continued: "And to my brilliant partner @nadiyabychkova , thank you so much for everything. You've been an amazing teacher and to have danced alongside you has been an absolute privilege.
© BBC"Over and out Strictly! You’ve been an absolute blast x," added the swimmer.
It's safe to say Tom's exit came as a shock to viewers, who felt the Olympian had been voted out too soon.
© BBCOne person penned on social media: "There's no way on earth Tom deserved to be first out. And poor Nadiya too. I'm usually able to pick first out but this was a shock."
A second fan added: "Adding Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova to the 'Eliminated far too soon' squad. His improvement from week 1 to 2 was massive, this was totally new for him. You could tell he was loving this experience, I'm so gutted for him and Nadiya."
Tom's fellow Strictly stars also shared their sadness over his departure in the comments section, with Nick Knowles writing: "Both the average height and the level of joy will be considerably less without you in our group going forward! Already a world champ. Will miss seeing you both around x," while Sam Quek added: "Gutted mate. Going to miss having you around."
Sunday's dance-off saw Tom and Nadiya take to the dance floor one last time with their Cha Cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire, while Toyah and Neil performed their jive to Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner.
© Guy LevyBoth Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Toyah, while Anton Du Beke gave his vote to Tom. With the deciding vote, head judge Shirley Ballas opted to save Toyah.
© Ray BurmistonReflecting on his journey with host Tess Daly, Tom said: "I've had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible. I wish I could have gone further and done more dances.
"I've had the most fun and I wish we could keep going longer and longer. We'll still go out for loads of brunches I'm sure."
