Actress Cherie Lunghi tonight became the ninth celebrity to be voted off BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.

After performing the cha-cha, the combination of the viewer votes and judges’ scores left Cherie and her partner James Jordan in the bottom two with Lisa Snowdon and Brendan Cole.

Both couples had to perform a second time for the judges’ deciding vote.

Of Cherie and James’s dance the judges said –

Arlene Phillips: “It was very neat and very accurate. You came out and looked like you were going to turn on every light bulb and then there were moments when the dimmer switch went on. You suddenly looked like you were trying to think about the steps, but I tell you, I envy your legs like nobody’s business!” Score: 8.

Len Goodman: “I would say your Latin is very neat and very precise. It is clean and it’s crisp, but I want to see just a little bit more of the wild Cherie coming out. I loved it very much, but would like a little more wildness coming out of you.” Score: 8.

Bruno Tonioli: “What a pair of pins! I’m glad to say this is a breakthrough, we’ve got more of a temptress now! You played it well – you can do Latin, you can do cha-cha, keep it going that way. I loved it.” Score: 9.

Craig Revel Horwood: “I would have liked to have seen a little bit more punctuation in that routine. I felt most of the time when you’re landing on two, you landed very heavy and that was particularly in the New York step on that second beat. However, you were magnificent to watch and I do believe that you are beginning to conquer Latin.” Score: 7.

The judges gave them a total of 32 out of 40 for their performance.

After the dance-off, Craig and Arlene saved Lisa and Brendan, but Cherie and James were thrown a lifeline by Bruno who picked them to stay, leaving head judge Len with the casting vote.

Len said: “This is terrible, I feel as though I’m kicking someone off the show because neither should be going, but I have to base it on that last performance, and for me the couple that edged it were Lisa and Brendan.”

After Cherie and James’s elimination, Cherie said: “It has been great, such a wonderful experience and great fun. It’s been a huge learning curve and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

James added: “I think Cherie had a lot more to show. This is supposed to be a dance contest… please, please, people at home vote for the dancing.”

The Sunday results saw a live performance from Tom Jones.