Strictly Come Dancing legend Craig Revel Horwood admitted that the atmosphere behind the scenes has changed now just four celebrities remain to battle it out for the Glitterball Trophy.
The most recent exit came from EastEnders actor Nigel Harman, 50, who had to withdraw from the competition after injuring his rib.
On top of this, actress Amanda Abbington also quit the BBC series in Week Five due to “personal reasons”.
Now the grand finale is just two weeks away, Craig described how the atmosphere behind the scenes has changed.
The choreographer, 58, said: “Claudia (Winkleman) is like The Mothership right now, making the celebs laugh and giving out hugs. Tess (Daly), too – but she’s more calming. They work well to prepare the nervous couples before they go on.
“It’s also gone quiet, backstage – there aren’t many pairs left, everyone’s focused on the prize,” the judge added to Best Magazine.
The couples performing in Saturday’s semi-final are Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola, Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell as well as Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe.
They will each perform two dances and, as there was no elimination, the scores from Musicals Week will be carried over.
Nigel Harman and his partner Katya Jones tearfully left the competition on Saturday after the actor hurt his rib.
He explained to host Claudia Winkleman: “I was leaping off [something] and was about to be caught by some handsome men. As I flew, I was Peter Pan and as I landed I was in A&E. So I have done something to my rib basically and it is quite painful.”
Nigel added that he had “loved” his time on the show as an emotional Katya sobbed: “It’s quite hard to talk right now, I am not going to lie. But I have loved absolutely every moment of us creating magic on the dance floor.”
However, a Strictly spokesperson has since confirmed that Nigel will return to the ballroom for an appearance at the final in two weeks.
They told Express.co.uk: “It is always sad when a contestant leaves the show, particularly when an injury is sustained. Nigel will be well missed by those who have worked alongside him on the show and everyone wishes him the very best and looks forward to seeing him at the final on Saturday 16th December.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday at 7.35pm on BBC One.
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