Ann Widdecombe stays on in Strictly Come Dancing, while judges’ scores and viewer votes eliminated Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien and her partner Jared Murillo.
Dressed in a Spanish-style dress with yellow ruffles and red shawl, Widdecombe’s Paso Doble with Anton du Beke on Saturday night featured a series of lifts, drags and spins to the tune of “Wild Thing.”
She earned a standing ovation but only 16 out of 40 points, with the judges unimpressed by her bullfighter’s cape impersonation, according to the Press Association.
The 63-year-old may be the elephant in the the flower bed, or “Dumbo” as she called herself in last week’s aerial performance, but Widdecombe has earned respect for her good humour and perseverance.
She will not quit like previous outsider John Sergeant, who left because he felt he was kept on the show by viewers’ sympathy and not for fine dancing, according to ITN News. Both had political careers—Sergeant as a BBC reporter and Widdecombe as Conservative Member of Parliament.
Widdecombe held the seat at Maidstone and the Weald (previously called simply Maidstone) for 23 years. She was also a government minister.
Strictly is not her first appearance as a TV star. She also appeared on Call My Bluff, Celebrity Scrabble, as well as her own shows Ann Widdecombe To The Rescue on BBC and Ann Widdecombe Versus on ITV.
Her first novel “The Clematis Tree,” published in April 2000, became a best seller. Since then she has written three more books.
