John's Samba Showdown

Nicole Cutler and John BarnesIt was cha-cha at dawn...

As John Barnes and his dance partner, Nicole Cutler, were voted off Strictly Come Dancing last night.

Having foxtrotted, salsaed and walzed his way through the competition, footie fave John Barnes became the eighth contestant to be booted off the dancing show yesterday.

He and partner Nicole competed in a dance-off with Kelly Brook and Brendan Cole, who faced the possibility of being voted off for the very first time so far.

But it was no real surprise when three of the four judges voted for Kelly to stay.

Judge Bruno Tonioli had previously said of John's samba:

Kelly Brook, Brendan Cole, Nicole and John"It was a murmur, it was casual, it didn't have the impact, the fun. It looked like you were rehearsing in the corridor, looking at the floor."

And while Kelly and Brendan's performance had received criticism over poor choreography, the judges were in agreement that Kelly was ultimately the better dancer.

Arlene Phillips noted that the Brendan and Kelly's appearance in the dance-off would be a wake-up call for them, adding that Kelly stood a good chance of winning the show.

John took his defeat well, receiving a standing ovation from the judges and audience, as he took to the floor once last time with Nicole.