Outgoing Strictly Come Dancing contestant, Cherie Lunghi, has accused flat footed John Sergeant of turning the show into a soap opera.

Lunghi also claims that John is only still in the show because of his sexy dance partner Kristina Rihanoff.

Cherie told BBC Breakfast news: “Kristina is a wonderful dancer and makes him look wonderful. I don’t know whether it’s a Marilyn Monroe fantasy or whatever, but it’s a show and it is entertainment.

“It is almost like there are two shows going on. John is dancing and competing, but there is this whole soap thing and sympathy for the character.”

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.

Strictly Come Dancers, Cherie Lunghi and Tom Chambers, have signed up for the show’s 2009 arena tour.

Gethin Jones, Jill Halfpenny, Julian Clary, and Kenny Logan from previous series of the show, will also take to the stage for the five week tour, which starts at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena on Friday January 16.

Rugby star Kenny said: “I’m used to a stadium full of rugby fans but I’m not sure how that will compare to the arenas on tour, I can’t wait to find out.”

All four TV judges – Len Goodman, Arlene Phillips, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli – will star in the touring show, scoring the live routines.

Bruno said: “I am so excited to be doing the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour this time, I really missed out last year due to TV commitments in America.”

Tickets are on sale now at www.seetickets.com

Strictly Come Dancing star, Cherie Lunghi has revealed that despite people constantly referring to her hot body and steamy persona, she feels she is too old to be considered a sex symbol.

56-year-old Cherie told The Mirror: “This may come as a shock to some people but I can’t help the way I feel. How others perceive me is, of course, entirely up to them and I am flattered by the attention and interest I am now receiving.

“But me as some kind of sex object? I really don’t think so – that’s not how I see myself and it’s not how I’ve seen myself for a little while now.

“The last few years have been about entering a new phase in my life. I feel like I’ve ‘been there and done all that’ in terms of my time as somebody whom men might fancy. I have a 22-year-old daughter Nathalie and I feel I’ve changed both mentally and physically.”

However, she says: “I try to live my life as honestly as I can and the last thing I want is to pretend to be something I’m not.

“To pretend to myself I am a sex symbol would somehow be dishonest. I’d feel, in my heart, that I were behaving artificially and that’s the last thing I want to do.

“That’s why I don’t want to go down the route of having plastic surgery. I want to play women my own age, rather than artificially ‘de-age’ myself so that I can play women who are younger or much younger than I am. I want to grow into those kind of more mature parts, not try and keep them at bay for as long as I possibly can.

“How other women of my age feel about themselves is, of course, entirely up to them. But it’s important to be honest with myself.”

Strictly Come Dancing competitor, Cherie Lunghi, has revealed that after only three weeks of appearing on the show her life has been taken over by dancing.

“It has to be about dance, eat enough, sleep enough, dance. That’s all I’ve got room for in my life,” she told MSN.

“It’s absolutely full-on at the moment but I do enjoy it and I am feeling fitter.

“I ran up some stairs the other day and I suddenly noticed that I’m not as out of breath as usual so it’s paying off.

“But I have to cut everything else out,” she continued.

Strictly Come Dancing bosses are being accused of trying to dupe viewers of the show by failing to reveal that this years contestant, Cherie Lunghi, is actually already a trained dancer and light years ahead of some of the other stars taking part.

An interview conducted with the actress back in 2001 has come back to haunt her as she admitted that she had extensive dance training and was ‘skilled in ballet, ballroom, jazz and tap-dancing.’

‘I was working in the profession from a very young age,’ added Cherie.

However many fans of the show will be upset by this revelation.

‘The whole ethos of the show is that celebrities are trained from having two left feet up to a good standard,’ said a source to the Daily Mirror.

‘It will definitely raise questions about whether Cherie has an unfair advantage over the other celebs. The other contestants most likely won’t be happy – let alone the public’

BBC bosses are insisting that no rules have been broken as Cherie is not trained in ballroom or Latin dancing.

‘Although Cherie studied ballet as a child, she’s had no dance training in her adult life, nor has she been taught this style before,’ said a show’s spokesman.