Letitia Dean was the tenth person to be voted off the Strictly Come Dancing quarter-finals tonight (Sunsday 9 December) on BBC One – after failing to impress the judges in the dance-off.

All the couples danced two different numbers again tonight – one Ballroom and one Latin dance, but once again one of those couples had to leave.

But it was Letitia and singer Alesha Dixon who found themselves in the bottom two competing in the dance-off.

Letitia performed the waltz and Alesha performed the Viennese Waltz – their highest scoring dances with the judges. But it was Letitia who had to go.

Letitia Dean has had to endure a week of heated rows with her dance partner Darren Bennett after he accused her of letting her recent marriage breakup affect her concentration.

Earlier this week, Bennett stormed out of reheasals shouting: “Take this show seriously or I’m not coming back!” He later returned to fulfil his contractual obligations, but the atmosphere remained tense as the pair practised the tango.

A source told the News of the World: “There was a huge amount of yelling and screaming. There has been for days. But this was their biggest bust-up yet. Darren screamed at Letitia for not taking the competition seriously enough.”

The insider added: Read more & comment »

After watching the female group dance tonight on Strictly Come Dancing, my heart went out to ex Eastender star Letitia Dean.

She really enjoys dancing, that much was apparent, but she seemed a bit ungainly and full of more exuberance than skill.

Kelly Brook, Penny Lancaster and Alesha Dixon were natural dancers, Gabby Logan has lots of potential and Stephanie Beacham had an elegance that was endearing. Read more & comment »

Letitia Dean is said to have agreed to take part in BBC One TV show, Strictly Come Dancing to help her recover from her recent marriage break-up.

Letitia, who is best known as Sharon from Eastenders, recently split from her husband of five years, Jason Pethers.

A friend told the Daily Star Sunday: “Strictly Come Dancing is a chance for Letitia to move on and look to the future. She’s a great actress and a big star. I’m sure she’ll be a massive success on the show. She certainly deserves it.”

Letitia Dean (professional partner is Darren Bennett)

Letitia is best known for her long running role as Sharon Watts in popular BBC soap EastEnders.

After leaving EastEnders in 1995, Letitia went on to star in numerous theatre and television productions including: The Hello Girls, Casualty, Doctors, The Bill, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, Drop The Dead Donkey and the 1995 film England, My England.

Six years after her initial exit from EastEnders Letitia was lured back to the soap where she reprised the role of Sharon Watts from 2001 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2006.

In 2005, Letitia was presented with the coveted award for outstanding achievement at the Inside Soap Awards, as homage to her work in EastEnders in which she has been starring for over 20 years, since the age of 17.

Read more & comment »