Julien MacDonald makes Strictly exit

Julien MacDonald has become the third celebrity to depart Strictly Come Dancing 2013 after finding himself in the dance off for the third week running.

The Welsh fashion designer and dance partner Janette Manrara had previously seen off competition from Tony Jacklin and Vanessa Feltz, who were the first two celebrities to leave.

However his luck finally ran out when he came up against Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev in the bottom two.

And after the Countdown co-host had reprised her quickstep and Julien had reprised his salsa, the judges voted unanimously to save Rachel.

"I am choosing the couple that simply danced best on the night, Rachel and Pasha," said Craig Revel Horwood, while Darcey Bussell added: "Both performances were 100 times better but for me it goes down to the difficulty of the dance."

Afterwards Julien thanked all those who had voted for him, adding: "I’ve had an amazing time and this has been the best experience of my life and I’ve left on a high, I hope I have spiced everybody’s night up!”

Janette - who is new to the show this series - also paid tribute to her celebrity partner, saying: “I don’t think I have ever met anyone that has put in more hours to try and make it happen. I am so glad I had Julien as my first partner on Strictly.”

Saturday night's show saw Julien perform a salsa to the Spice Girls chart-topper Spice Up Your Life - winning yet another mixed response from the judges.

“You come out and attacked the dance, but it needed more control. The dynamic was brilliant," Len Goodman told him, while Bruno Tonioli said: "You put everything you can into it, but if you stay on, you have to go with the music."