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Former professional footballer Paul Merson has become the fourth celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing this year and he has given his honest thoughts about his professional partner Karen Hauer and why he thinks he “won” the show.

The ex-Arsenal player has joined Nick Knowles, Toyah Willcox and Tom Dean in being eliminated from the competition after ending up in the dance off after week five, where he was surprisingly up against JLS singer JB Gill.

Merson was initially considered a “joke” contestant after his first few dances but sailed through week three of the competition after delivering a better performance than expected.

However, the 56-year-old who danced a Samba to Rose Royce song “Car Wash,” failed to impress the judges on the night, which saw several stand out performances from the likes of Jamie Borthwick, Chris McCausland and Montell Douglas.

Speaking after his elimination on Sunday’s results show, Merson said: “It’s been really good. For anybody I talk to, I would say you’ve got to go on this show. It’s amazing.

“There’s a Tottenham fan over there called Lincoln and even he’s nice! It’s been amazing – honestly amazing. I loved every minute of it.”

The Sky Sports pundit then said of Hauer: “Could have done better in the last dance if I’m being honest.” On a more serious note, he said: “No she’s been amazing. Couldn’t have asked for a better coach.”

He then called Hauer a “great teacher”, adding: “She’s been amazing and I couldn’t wish for a better coach. I’ve loved every minute of it.

He then explained why he believed he had actually “won” the show saying: “because I can dance, I couldn’t dance before and I can half dance now so it’s a bonus.”

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Hauer then said that she was “proud” of Merson, adding: “You’ve been a joy. I’ve never giggled this much. My abs are really tight now. I am so proud of you. Every week you have showed up, you have improved.

“You’re what Strictly is about and I want to thank you for bringing such joy and just showing everyone that it is possible with a little bit of work and lots of giggles.”

While Merson was eliminated, Gill’s presence in the bottom two is considered a surprise considering he and his dance partner Amy Dowden were considered early favourites to win the series.

The only other remaining contestant, alongside Gill, to have competed in the dance off so far is Shayne Ward.

The remaining 11 couples will next perform during Strictly’s Halloween episode on Saturday (26 October).

ONE Big Brother housemate was left begging for her co-star to be booted out of the house after finding themselves locked in a secret ‘feud’.

Emma Morgan could not hold back her thoughts as she slammed 20-year-old Chinese Takeaway worked Lily to multiple housemates.

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In footage shown on ITV tonight, Emma was seen making a series of scathing remarks about Lily ahead of Friday night’s eviction.

Lily could be seen screaming and “eeking” around the sofa area as Emma got more and more wound up.

Turning to fellow housemate Thomas, Emma seethed that she was hoping it would be Lily that got the chop.

Speaking out loud, she could be heard saying under her breath: “Please evict her!”

As Daze was ultimately axed from the house, Emma could be seen rolling her eyes at the thought of continuing to having to live with Lily.

In another shock comment, Emma could be heard saying in reference to Lily: “Shut up before I strangle you.”

As the shock feud was revealed, Emma could be heard moaning about Lily and her antics to other housemates as she admitted she was growing tired of her constant loud noises.

As news of the eviction settled in, Emma took herself off to have a chat with Big Brother where she made Lily the target of her words once again.

She confessed she wanted her dumped over Daze in order for the house to find some peace.

Unleashing another rant at her, she put Lily on blast as she ‘wished’ an illness upon her.

Emma said: “I hope she gets a doze of laryngitis for a few weeks.

“Then I might warm to her.”

Although the ‘feud’ appears to be new, it could have been bubbling for a few weeks after Emma said upon entering the house that she hoped she would be “bound and gagged” in order to keep her quiet.

Big Brother 2024 cast

A brand new batch of Big Brother housemates are living it up in the famous compound.

Meet the cast of the 2024 series:

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• Rosie, 29, dental assistant from Cornwall.
• Emma, 53, aesthetics business owner from Altrincham.
• Segun, 25, charity videographer from Watford.
• Nathan, 24, pork salesman from Dumfries.
• Daze, 24, climate activist from London.
• Khaled, 23, sales manager from Manchester.
• Martha, 26, NHS administrator from Scarborough.
• Lily, 20, Chinese takeaway server from Warrington.
• Ali, 30, Forensic psychologist from London.
• Thomas, 20 amputee footballer from Carlisle.
• Ryan, 28, marketing and events from Stockport.
• Hannah, 24, HR consultant from West London.
• Izaaz, 29, sales consultant from London.
• Sarah, 27, spa account manager from Shrewsbury.
• Marcello, 34, youth mentor from East London.
• Dean, 35, barber from East London

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BIG Brother viewers have claimed a kiss between two housemate was ‘forced’ and ‘absolutely rancid’.

Sunday night’s episode saw the Housemates dealing with the aftermath of the latest eviction.

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On Friday night, Daze was banished from the ITV2 house after the public vote.

The remaining Housemates comforted each other, but two of them took that to a whole new level.

Baked Potato (Rosie) and Nathan have been growing closer in recent days, and shared a three-way kiss with Lily.

But tonight, the lovebirds were seen sharing a snog on their own, but not before staring at each other for an awkwardly long period of time.

They finally broke eye contact to lock lips on the sofa while no-one else was around, but the moment left many Big Brother fans horrified.

Taking to X – formerly Twitter – one wrote: “Genuinely feel sick watching that kiss. It felt soooo forced as if they were forced to.”

Another added: “That kiss was absolutely rancid, truly evil personified.”

A third commented: “Baked potatoes has kissed Nathan which genuinely disgusts me and probably increase his chance of being in the final of this season of big brother like last year.”

Meanwhile a fourth tweeted: “This kiss seems soooo forced. They really do have 0 chemistry.”

Rosie is called ‘Baked Potato’ after she completed a series of dares, one of which included changing her name.

Others took issue with the fact that Nathan had cold sores when he kissed Baked Potato.

One wrote: “I cant believe she kissed him with those sores on his lips, i feel sick.”

Another commented: “Nathan has a massive cold sore and he kissed Baked Potato. Christ.”

A third shared: “Baked Potato kissed that square head with a big ole COLDSORE on his lip!!!! Nasty work.”

Big Brother airs on ITV2 and is available on ITVX.

BIG Brother’s Ali was left locked in a VERY heated exchange with co-star Marcello as she called out his ‘inappropriate’ comments.

The star was left seething with Marcello as he made a series of sexual comments in front of the entire group as they were gathered around the sofas.

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As he discussed his sexual habits and what he would be willing to get up to inside the walls of the famous ITV2 house, Ali told him to stop speaking about inappropriate things whilst they were all forced to sit in one place.

It comes after fans of the show were left fuming with Marcello as they called him out on social media.

It seemed no one in the house had appeared to address the comments until now but Ali has finally spoken out.

She demanded Marcello stop talking in graphic detail about the topic and insisted it could get her “struck off” from her psychologist job if she was seen to be listening in to a conversation about sexual habits.

It created a frosty atmosphere as the pair sparred back and forth as many of the other housemates looked around surprised at the sudden confrontation.

Later on, Marcello admitted he was “p***ed off” with Ali and decided to chat to her in the garden where Ali admitted she felt like she was being “told off”.

As part of the conversation, Marcello said: “What was that about over there?

“I’m having an honest conversation about a real thing in here and you’re silencing it and making it awkward and embarrassing for me.

“If you feel that way, pull me up after – that’s made to me!

Defensively, Ali remarked: “It’s mad to me that you think you have a right to pull me and tell me off.

“The way that you speak and the conversations that you start sometimes are vulgar and not everyone is going to enjoy them.”

As Marcello attempted to butt in, Ali quickly shot him down once again as she questioned if he really “had the right” to be having this confrontation with her.

She later added to him: “You were not having an adult, normal, sensible conversation… you were talking about all sorts of things in quite graphic detail that I did not want to listen too.

“Don’t subject people who don’t want to listen to it to those sorts of conversations.”

Marcello told her that she “had to let people speak” as it was not “reality” to control a conversations during their heated and seemingly unresolved argument.

Last week, Ofcom confirmed they had received a number of complaints from Big Brother viewers about Marcello’s words.

Viewers stayed true to their word and contacted the broadcasting watchdog shortly after calling for his eviction earlier this week.

Youth worker Marcello caused recent outrage with his comment about showers, when some of the girls said they planned to wash with wet wipes instead.

He bluntly refused to clean and said: “Men are supposed to be stinking” in a remark which understandably caused a stir online.

Big Brother 2024 cast

A brand new batch of Big Brother housemates are living it up in the famous compound.

Meet the cast of the 2024 series:

• Rosie, 29, dental assistant from Cornwall.
• Emma, 53, aesthetics business owner from Altrincham.
• Segun, 25, charity videographer from Watford.
• Nathan, 24, pork salesman from Dumfries.
• Daze, 24, climate activist from London.
• Khaled, 23, sales manager from Manchester.
• Martha, 26, NHS administrator from Scarborough.
• Lily, 20, Chinese takeaway server from Warrington.
• Ali, 30, Forensic psychologist from London.
• Thomas, 20 amputee footballer from Carlisle.
• Ryan, 28, marketing and events from Stockport.
• Hannah, 24, HR consultant from West London.
• Izaaz, 29, sales consultant from London.
• Sarah, 27, spa account manager from Shrewsbury.
• Marcello, 34, youth mentor from East London.
• Dean, 35, barber from East London

Big Brother viewers were also irked when the east London lad falsely claimed he had shared a “kiss” with Ali.

Now Ofcom has confirmed 72 complaints were made about the October 11 episode in particular.

They stated comments “related to Marcello’s behaviour and his alleged misogynistic comments.”

He was also called out for asking co-star Sarah if she was “on her period” due to her sullen mood in yet another slip-up.

One person raged this week: “Please get this sexist t*** out of the house bro wyd.”

A second added: “The misogynist continues..He needs told to shut the f*** up.”

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STRICTLY bosses have reported been ‘left with headache’ after Chris McCausland becomes a favourite to win the BBC show.

The stand up comic – who is blind – has impressed Strictly viewers with his routines so far in the 2024 series.

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Chris, 47, is paired with pro partner Dianne Buswell and their chemistry – as well as his impressive performances – have made him a front runner to lift the Glitterball Trophy come December.

However, if he does triumph over his fellow celebrities, Chris will leave bosses in a bit of a pickle, according to The Mirror.

Historically, the Strictly champion always takes part in the show’s annual live tour, which heads to arenas all around the country weeks after the Strictly finale.

Unfortunately, Chris’ own stand up tour clashes with the 2025 Strictly tour dates, meaning he would be the first champ not to participate.

A source told the publication: “Craig [Revel Horwood] has suggested that all this year’s favourites will be there but that’s not true.

“How can Chris be in two places at once? As things stand, Chris can’t do it because every show on his comedy tour from January 17 clashes.”

Chris currently has odds of 4/9 to win with bookies, with Tasha Ghouri next in line with 4/1.

The Strictly Tour 2025 is set to begin in Birmingham on January 17 before heading to cities including Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow and Manchester.

It is set to conclude at London’s O2 Arena on February 9.

However, Chris’ latest stand up tour, Yonks!, also starts on January 17 in Walsall and runs right through until June.

A spokesperson for Ladbrokes said of the latest odds: “Chris McCausland seems to be running away with the competition this year after he extended his lead at the head of the Strictly betting.

“Tasha is his main rival as things stand, but punters only see one winner.”

Chris and Dianne safely made it through to Halloween Week this weekend.

Unfortunately the same could not be said for Paul Merson and his pro partner Karen Hauer, who became the latest couple to be voted off the show on Sunday night.

Strictly 2024 pairings

Here’s who is matched with who this series…

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.

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Strictly Come Dancing week five saw the 12 remaining celebrities deliver a series of impressive routines in the hope of making it through to the next round of dances.

There was no theme for this week’s show so viewers were treated to an eclectic range of performances to songs by the likes of Oasis, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Sam Smith.

In a rare set of results, there were two 39 point scores.

Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas took the first lot of plaudits this week with their stunning performance of the Pasodoble to the song “Malagueña” by Ernesto Lecuona earning an almost perfect 39 points.

Meanwhile, Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe also scored 39 points after their Couple’s Choice dance to “Skeleton Move” by KG and Zanda Zakuza.

Perhaps the standout was blind comedian Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell with a moving Waltz set to the tune of the Liverpool football club anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Propping up the table was former Arsenal footballer Paul Merson, who did about as well as his old team on the night, scoring just 19, with Craig Revel Horwood scoring him and partner Karen Hauer just 3.

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Here is this week’s leaderboard in full with the individual marks from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke:

Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas: 9 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39

Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe: 9 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell: 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones: 7 + 9 + 9 + 8 = 33

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Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu: 7 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 31

JB Gill and Amy Dowden: 7 + 8 + 7 + 8 = 30

Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec: 8 + 9 + 8 + 9 = 34

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola: 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 32

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Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin: 6 + 7 + 6 + 7 = 26

Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał: 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 22

Dr Purnam Krishnan and Gorka Marquez: 4 + 6 + 5 + 6 = 21

Paul Merson and Karen Hauer: 3 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 19

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