Ugo Monye speaks out after Strictly Come Dancing exit

Ugo Monye has spoken out after his exit from Strictly Come Dancing.

The sports star and his pro partner Oti Mabuse were the fourth couple to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night.

The pair danced a Rumba to Leave The Door Open by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic before finding themselves in the bottom two in Sunday’s results show against Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.

Appearing on It Takes Two tonight to chat about his time on the show, Ugo reacted: “It’s been a mad few days, hasn’t it! To do my last dance with Oti was amazing and you don’t want it to be your last dance but I had a phenomenal five weeks on the biggest show on the telly.”

Ugo made a return to the competition at the weekend after a week off due to a back injury, with Oti admitting: “I think for both of us, it felt like we were starting from the beginning. This felt officially like Week One where we could still build up and get to the top of that leader board.

“But, we did give our best and [Ugo] did try so hard during the week and he was managing his injury. All week, I was asking, ‘are you okay?’ but for me, what I really loved and appreciated was that he didn’t complain and he wanted to be there. There was this drive, this will and passion for this beautiful show.”

Ugo added: “I think everyone appreciates that health is the most important thing and I can’t be any more grateful for Oti and the person that she is and the coach that she is but unfortunately, my body wasn’t quite willing to do the things that my head was telling me.”

When asked about training for the Rumba, Ugo shared: “We’ve had the best time. We have laughed a lot.

“When Oti kept saying to me that I had to be sexy and sultry, I was like, ‘what does that even mean?!’”

He continued: “It was good fun though, it was nice to do something a bit slow and different.

“I know the Rumba is a really tough Latin dance but in fairness, you’re on the show to push yourself and push your boundaries… it’s all been about brand new experiences for me and I absolutely loved it, even though it was my last dance.”

Finally after watching back his and Oti’s best bits, Ugo reflected: “I do look back at my time with zero regrets. Did I have more to give? Yeah, I think so. Did I have more to give than the remaining contestants? Absolutely not because they are spectacular!

“So, genuinely, for me to do Strictly was amazing. It’s a BBC institution and to be able to do it with Oti was incredible.”

Strictly – It Takes Two continues every weeknight at 6:30PM on BBC Two.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday and Sunday nights on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Picture: Tess Daly, Ugo Monye, Oti Mabuse – (C) BBC – Photographer: Kieron McCarron