Rhys Stephenson flashes wide smile as he leaves It Takes Two following Strictly elimination

He was the eleventh star to be eliminated from the BBC dancing show.

And on Monday Rhys Stephenson flashed a wide smile as he and Nancy Xu strolled along together after filming It Takes Two, following his shock Strictly Come Dancing axe on Sunday.

The CBBC presenter, 28, was in good spirits as he was seen leaving at London’s Riverside Studios with his professional dance partner, after filming for the spin-off show.

Rhys earlier looked downcast as he was seen for the first time since his shock Strictly Come Dancing axe on Sunday. 

The TV presenter lost out in a place in next week’s final after going head to head with Bake Off star John Whaite in the dreaded dance off.

He was dressed in a button-tan long coat, matched with a green shirt and black T-shirt. He also took precautions by wearing a face covering while out and about.  

Rhys teamed the outfit with some black trousers and Chelsea boots. He also had a black backpack with him during the outing.

The star looked downbeat less than twenty four hours after getting the boot from the BBC hit show. 

Fellow show contestants John Whaite and Johannes Radebe were also in attendance ahead of filming along with show host Rylan Clark-Neal who looked as dapper as ever.  

After performing two routines each in Saturday’s semi-final, Rhys and his partner Nancy Xu performed their Samba to It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera) by Michael Bublé. 

Meanwhile, John and his partner Johannes performed their Jive to Higher Power by Coldplay, in a bid to impress the judges and secure their place in the final.  

After both couples had danced, all four judges unanimously chose to save John and Johannes.

When asked by the shows presenter Tess Daly about their time on the show, Rhys said: ‘I might not have gotten to the final but I learnt so much from just being on this show, from everyone here who’s just supported us in this new family.

‘To have the time to spend with this champion of a dancer [Nancy] who’s put so much into me. Thank you for just letting my energy shine.

‘Thank you for being that partner. I should use your actual name which is Xu YouJie. Thank you so much Nancy Xu YouJie, for just being there, being my rock and everything I needed to get through this. Thank you.’

Nancy was then asked if she had any words for Rhys and said: ‘First I want to say a massive thank you to everyone in the show for supporting us from the very beginning.

‘You’ve become stronger and stronger every week. And thank you [Rhys] for being an amazing dancer partner. My first year, it has been absolutely epic.’

After watching their best bits, an emotional Rhys added: ‘It’s good to cry, it’s good to feel. Strictly makes you feel things. You feel so much and sometimes that’s overwhelming.’

With John and Johannes saved, they will join Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice and AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington in next week’s final