Strictly Come Dancing: Christine gets the boot!

Christine Bleakley has missed out on the Strictly Come Dancing quarter-final after becoming the latest celebrity to leave the show on Sunday night.

The One Show presenter had managed to escape the dance-off for the entire series, but this week found herself in the bottom two for the first time along with Rachel Stevens.

And after Stevens and partner Vincent Simone had reprised their waltz from Saturday's show, and Christine and Matthew Cutler had danced their salsa once again, the judges' verdict was unanimous.

"Both couples danced their hearts out tonight and that was obvious," said Craig Revel Horwood, "but the couple I am going to save are Rachel and Vincent."

Arlene also voted for Rachel, but praised the efforts of both couples. "I was concentrating so hard in that dance off urging both to dance their strongest and their best," she said.

Ultimately, Bruno also chose to save Rachel and Vincent, while Len said he would have voted the same way.

Afterwards, Christine told Bruce Forsyth she was amazed to have lasted as long in the competition as she did.

"I thought I would go in the first week, I truly thought that," she said. "I can't believe I'm here, and I can't thank people enough for their support, it's been amazing."

The 28-year-old finished bottom of the scoreboard on Saturday night's show, in which the remaining five couples had each performed two routines.

Bruno described her tango as "a bit limp," while Len added, "you let your nerves get the better of you".

In the second half, Arlene said her salsa "lacked some hip action", and Craig complained that the dance was "stompy".