Strictly Come Dancing: Dani Harmer finishes fourth

Strictly Come Dancing: Dani Harmer finishes fourth
Strictly Come Dancing: Dani Harmer finishes fourth

Dani Harmer's luck finally ran out on Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing final when she became the first celebrity eliminated from the competition. The Tracy Beaker star had been tipped as a possible dark horse by many after sailing through the competition and managing to make it to the final without ever being in the dance-off. However she finished in fourth place after polling the lowest number of votes from the public - leaving Denise Van Outen, Louis Smith and Kimberley Walsh to battle it out in the latter part of the final which was eventually won by Louis. Afterwards a clearly emotional Dani paid tribute to dancer Vincent Simone who had partnered her in the competition. "Everything's been absolutely amazing but the best thing about this experience has been dancing with this man," she said. "I'm going to miss dancing with him, he has been amazing." Earlier in the show Dani had finished slightly behind the other finalists on the judges' scoreboard, picking up 36 for her tango - the judges' choice of dance from earlier in the series - and 35 for her showdance to Bohemian Rhapsody. Although the judges praised the complexity of the choreography they weren't quite so sure about the actual performance. Bruno Tonioli told her: "Very ambitious and interesting concept, but I felt you were a little bit too nervous." However Len Goodman was kinder, saying: "Dani, you may be small but for me your talent is huge. It was a dancing cocktail...intoxicating."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.