Wynne and Katya started after months of tears, toil and controversy

There will be no encore for opera singer Wynne Evans after he and professional partner Katya Jones were eliminated at the end of Strictly Come Dancing’s Blackpool weekend (BBC One). It was a trip north that quickly went south for the jovial singer after his hobby horse-themed Charleston failed to clear hurdles with either viewers or judges. A bad neighbor’s day all round, despite the duo’s best efforts.

Blackpool is where Strictly gets an extra jolt of fabulousness, and a half-time performance of David Bowie’s All The Young Dudes by the Pet Shop Boys certainly added to the wattage during Sunday’s results section. But not for the first time, elimination night lacked excitement as a clean slate of judges gave Evans and Jones the thumbs down and spared Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe. Eight weeks on, the suspicion remains that Strictly is still weeding out the also-rans, and that the business end of the competition has not yet arrived in earnest. Please, please, please, can we make it soon?

Given their marching orders, Evans and Jones went over the top and saluted each other and Strictly. Katya described how her celebrity partner lit up every room he walked into. Wynne talked about how great it was to practice with Jones every day. Strictness, he continued, was a “precious” thing that should be cherished. On and on they gushed, though apparently no mention was made of the “grope compare” internet controversy that came and went in early October.