Strictly Come Dancing said goodbye to its third celebrity over the weekend, with The Wanted singer – and The Simpsons superfan – Max George sent home after losing a dance-off to EastEnders star Maisie Smith.

Maisie was saved by Craig Revel Horwood and guest judge Anton Du Beke, while Shirley Ballas admitted she’d have opted to keep Max in the competition.

However, in a new interview, judge Motsi Mabuse has admitted the chips might have fallen a little differently had she been in the studio during this weekend’s show.

Motsi is currently self-isolating after an urgent trip to Germany, where she lives most of the time, meaning she was absent from the Strictly ballroom on Saturday night. 

She told Radio 2 on Tuesday: “I saw that Max had a very difficult routine, he had to control himself quite a lot. If we remember last week with the Simpsons he was all jolly and I think he liked that role and this time he had to be back in control.

“I’m stuck here, I’m almost like Shirley, watching from the outside, maybe I might have saved Max.”

However, Motsi also insisted that viewers “cannot see from the TV screen as well as you can sitting there and being a judge”.

Motsi isn’t the only Strictly star currently self-isolating, with It Takes Two host Rylan Clark-Neal currently in the middle of a quarantine period after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for Covid-19.

Last week also saw Nicola Adams leaving the contest suddenly, after it emerged her professional partner Katya Jones had contracted coronavirus.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.15pm on BBC One.