In what was undeniably the most surprising result of the current series of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, Aston Merrygold has been given his marching orders from the BBC show.

Aston and professional partner Janette Manrara were given the boot in Sunday’s (5 November) results show, after a dance-off against Mollie King and AJ Pritchard.

The former JLS singer has been consistently strong throughout his time on ‘Strictly’, but had a shaky time in this week’s live show, with the judges ultimately ruling that this was enough to give him the chop.

After both Aston and Mollie danced for the second time, Craig Revel Horwood was the first to cast his vote to give the former the boot, explaining: “Both couples improved on the night which was wonderful to see but based purely on technique for me, the better dance of the evening goes to Mollie and AJ.”

Darcey Bussell disagreed, claiming Aston and Janette were “more assured”, with Bruno concurring: “[One couple] transformed their performance tonight and it had much more power, much more impact, it flowed more and for that reason I would like to save Aston and Janette.”

Therefore, the casting vote went to Head Judge Shirley Ballas, who declared: “On technical accuracy, beautiful flow and full engagement during the dance, I’m saving Mollie and AJ.”

Insisting he had no hard feelings, Aston told Tess Daly: “I’ve had friends who have done the show before and they’ve gone ‘you’re going to have the most amount of fun from start to finish whatever it is’ and honestly they weren’t lying!

“I’ve made some amazing friends and honestly I’ve had the best time, it’s been amazing.”

Aston’s final dance – a Viennese Waltz to ‘Who’s Loving You’ by the Jackson 5 – held particular significance to him, having performed a number by the band on ‘Stars In Their Eyes Kids’ years before finding fame in JLS.

‘Strictly’ continues next Saturday (11 November) on BBC One.