Former Love Island star Matthew MacNabb planted a kiss on pro dance partner Laura Nolan as the pair were voted out of the semi-finals on Dancing With The Stars.
Jordan Conroy, Erica Cody, Nina Carberry and Ellen Keane will battle it out to bring home the glitterball trophy in the final of Dancing With The Stars next Sunday.
The fantastic four will now battle it out next Sunday night to lift the glitterball trophy after three months of dancing.
Last night saw Matthew and Laura leave the show as they were voted out of the semi-finals by judges Loraine Barry, Brian Redmond and Arthur Gourounlian
The pair ended up in the dance off against Erica and Denys – but went out in style as Matthew planted a kiss on Laura, confirming speculation he is dating the Dubliner.
Earlier in the night, Matthew and Laura scored 21 points for their samba and just 1 point in the show’s Bust A Move marathon, where couples were expected to dance for over three minutes.
Matthew said after being voted out, he said: “Can I sum it up (my journey)? It’s an absolute rollercoaster. You’re put in seven days a week, ten hours every day.”
The Co Down star said he feels like a completely different person at the end of the show.
“It’s been amazing. I’ve grown as a person, I’ve grown and I feel like a completely different person at the end of this. Thank you so much to everybody for this opportunity.”
Laura added: “This journey has been incredible from start to finish from someone who never performed, never danced before to doing one of the most difficult dances tonight..”
She thanked Matthew for all his hard work and the judges for all their harsh and lovely criticism.
Nina Carberry and her pro dance partner Pasquale La Rocca opened the show with her dramatic paso doble scoring 30 points – the first time the dance has ever scored full marks on Dancing With The Stars.
Their Paso Doble to ‘Get Ready’ by Rayelle was a top scorer by the judges.
(Image: Kyran O’Brien)
Loraine said she was “fearless”, adding that doing a “dead man’s drop” takes a lot of trust and timing, and gave her “goosebumps”.
“Overall I thought this was a striking performance tonight”, while Arthur said Nina needed to get ready for the final.
And Brian said her dance was “out of this world”, saying her paso doble was full of “delishly devilish detail”.
Nina said she was “overwhelmed” by the judges comments as the pair now prepare for the final.
The pair then scored four points in the show’s dance marathon.
Next up, Erica Cody and her pro dance partner danced a fast and fun jive with her pro dance partner Denys Samson. They danced to ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ sung by the cast of the recent Sing 2 movie.
Scording them 26 points, Arthur said: “That’s one way to showcase your remarkable legs, I hope this is the warm up for your world tour.”
Brian said: “I’m not always not the biggest fan of a scene starting on the rostrum. Once you got down, arms weren’t going crazy. The thing I liked was the bounce action. A bit stilted for me.”
Loraine added: “It’s the semi-final – go big or go home. This was massive for me. A lot of energy. You showed balance of the speed with slow motion. A little miss of the hands at the end. For me, it was a smashing jive.”
Jordan Conroy and his pro dance partner Salome Chachua danced an effortless American Smooth, scoring 28 points.
Their graceful American Smooth was danced to ‘The Sweetest Feeling’ by Jackie Wilson.
Speaking afterwards, judge Loraine said it was a “charming” American Smooth, while Arthur praised the couple, saying it was another side to Jordan that viewers hadn’t seen.
And Brian described Jordan’s steps as “excellent”, adding it was great to see the rugby sevens star looking “so suave”.
And fresh from her Grand Marshal St Patrick’s Day parade duties, paralympian swimmer Ellen Keane danced a lively Charleston with her pro dance partner Stephen Vincent, who returned back to the ballroom floor after missing last week’s show due to contracting Covid-19.
Together they danced a fun Charleston to ‘Marvellous Party’ by Beverley Knight, scoring 30 points and receiving a standing ovation.
Praising the couple, Arthur said Ellen was in her element doing high energy numbers, saying her confidence and dedication was “incredible”.
Brian said it was “the greatest we have seen you look all season”.
Jordan and Salome won the Bust A Move marathon, adding five points to their score, while Matthew and Laura scored just one point
“Right from the beginning, the first beat from the last beat”, adding that they were “amazing.”
The show also saw the return of Jake Carter, who won the show back in 2018 with Karen Byrne, last night to perform his new single, I Just Gotta Take You Home.