Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton apologises to wife Karen for strain on marriage as Susan gets booted from show
SUSAN Calman crashed out of Strictly tonight with her pro partner Kevin Clifton making a public apology to his wife.
The Sun told on Saturday how travelling back and forth to Glasgow for training had put a strain on his marriage to fellow dancer Karen.
Kevin, 35, admitted last night: “When Strictly is on I’m not the easiest person to live with. I go a bit mad.
“So I’d like to say first of all thanks to my wife for putting up with me.”
He and Susan lost to Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez in the dance-off.
Kevin hailed Scots comedy star Susan, 43, as “the absolute epitome of joy and happiness”.
Susan said: “We got far further than we thought. Most of all I’ve made a friend for life. Kevin’s won Strictly for me.”
She said: "Everyone from wardrobe, make-up, the runners, Tess and lovely Claudia, Zoe on It Takes Two, the beautiful judges who have brought such light into my life every single week, everyone involved in the show, the audience, everyone who voted for us, we got far further than we thought we would.
"To my friends and my family and my lovely wife who's here every single week supporting me."
She added: "Most of all, I've made a friend for life and Kevin may not have won the Glitterball this year but he's won Strictly for me."
Clifton thanked his wife, fellow Strictly professional dancer Karen Clifton - who left the competition several weeks ago along with TV presenter Simon Rimmer - for her support.
He said: "I'd like to say a couple of thank-yous actually; when Strictly is on I'm not the easiest person to live with, I go a bit mad so I'd like to say first of all thanks to my wife for putting up with me.
"I'd like to say thank you to Strictly Come Dancing and echoing everything that Susan said about everyone on it because I think in a world where not everything going on at the moment is always nice, Strictly is the one thing that brings a lot of joy and happiness into the world through the wonderful thing that is dance."
He told Calman: "And I think Susan you've been the absolute epitome of joy and happiness throughout this whole competition which in my eyes makes you a beautiful dancer. So thank you for dancing with me and thanks for being my friend."
Calman and Clifton had landed at the bottom of the leaderboard for their routine with just 22 points.
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Burke remains in the competition alongside broadcaster Debbie McGee, soap stars Joe McFadden, Gemma Atkinson and Davood Ghadami, and singer Mollie King.
Saturday night's show saw Holby City star McFadden top the leaderboard as he scored a new high of 38 for his 1920s-inspired quickstep with Katya Jones, while combined with a further six points after a second-place finish in the bonus group dance pasodoblethon.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.05pm on BBC One.
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