Who left Strictly Come Dancing 2026 tonight as Bethany Antonia and Cach Mercer face dance-off
Shirley Ballas made the deciding voteStrictly Come Dancing 2026 saw Bethany Antonia eliminated tonight (Sunday, November 8) after a dance-off against Cach Mercer ended in a split decision from the judges about who left the competition.
The House of the Dragon actress and professional partner Nancy Xu became the latest couple to leave the BBC competition after head judge Shirley Ballas used her casting vote to save Love Island star Cach and his partner Maddie Ingoldsby.
The result came despite Bethany scoring four points more than Cach during Saturday night’s live show, leaving viewers divided over the judges’ decision.
Who left Strictly Come Dancing 2026 tonight?
Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu were eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2026 on Sunday night after finding themselves in the bottom two alongside Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby.
Bethany and Nancy had impressed the judges with their foxtrot to Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, earning 30 points.
Meanwhile, Cach and Maddie received 26 points for their waltz to That Ain’t You by Mulaa Jones.
However, the public vote saw both couples land in the dreaded dance-off, where they were forced to perform their routines again in a bid to stay in the competition.
Shirley Ballas has deciding vote in Strictly Come Dancing dance-off results
The Strictly judges were split over which couple deserved to stay in the competition.
Craig Revel Horwood voted to save Bethany and Nancy, while Anton Du Beke chose Cach and Maddie.
Motsi Mabuse then sided with Craig, voting to keep Bethany and Nancy in the competition.
With the judges divided, the final decision fell to head judge Shirley Ballas.
Shirley opted to save Cach and Maddie, meaning Bethany and Nancy were eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.
Strictly Come Dancing fans react to Bethany Antonia’s elimination
Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left divided following Bethany’s exit.
One person wrote on X: “Sorry, Bethany and Nancy were better. What a joke Strictly is. Cach and Maddie need to go.”
Another said: “Sorry but Cach and Maddie should’ve gone. Same comments every week! Bethany and Nancy were improving, what a shame.”
A third added: “Honestly so gutted for Bethany and Nancy. Not sure what the judges were thinking. Dreadful decision!”
However, someone else insisted: “Well done Shirley, the right decision to save Cach.”
Another person commented: “Right decision, it was Bethany’s time to go, she was lucky to survive last week’s dance-off.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday, November 14 from 6.25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI technology to synthesise source reporting and structured data. It has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by our human editorial team before publication.
