Vanessa Feltz became the second celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing when she lost a dance off against fashion designer Julien Macdonald.

The broadcaster expressed her sadness at leaving but said her time on the show had been "lovely".

“I will miss everything," she said. "Especially James and dancing, the glamour, the sequins and the fun of it all. Thank you very much indeed for having me, it’s been a lovely time.”

She added that she had been motivated to go on the show to improve her dancefloor skills, so that she could dance "beautifully" with fiance Ben Ofoedu.

"I wanted to do Strictly because Ben is such a fantastic dancer and it would be really heavenly, the best feeling in the world, to dance beautifully with the man I really love."

Last night Ms Feltz performed the tango in a violet gown with dance partner James Jordan to Abba's "Lay all your love on me" - in keeping with the third show's love theme.

Judge Darcey Bussell said she liked Ms Feltz's "fire".

But she lost the dance-off after all four judges opted to save Mr Macdonald.

However, head judge Len Goodman said: “Funnily enough Vanessa, I thought you danced a little better in that second dance."

Jewish celebrity Rachel Riley survived the second round of eliminations with her cha cha , danced to “When love takes over” by Kelly Rowland.

The 27-year-old Countdown co-presenter, who is one of the favourites to win the series, revealed that she had celebrated her 21st birthday with a party with a SCD theme.