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Actress Laila Rouass tonight became the 12th celebrity to be voted off the seventh series of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One's Strictly Come Dancing.

In week 12 and the quarter-finals of the competition, the four remaining celebrity contestants and their professional dance partners took to the floor to perform both a Latin and a Ballroom dance.

And, with the competition hotting up, for the first time this series the couples had to perform and be judged on two individual dances.

Also this week, world renowned ballerina Darcey Bussell joined the judging panel as a guest judge to give her opinion on the remaining four couples.

And with five judges on the panel, the couples received a score out of 50 for each of their two dances. These scores were then added together to create a final score out of 100.

After tonight's performances, the combination of the judges' scores and viewers' votes left Laila and her professional partner Anton Du Beke in the bottom two and facing the dance-off with actor Ricky Whittle and his professional partner Natalie Lowe.

Laila and Anton performed their American Smooth to My Kind Of Girl and Ricky and Natalie performed their Foxtrot to Too Marvelous For Words for a second time for the judges' deciding vote.

Making their decision on who to save, the judges said –

Craig Revel Horwood: "I am going for the most dynamic couple this evening and that is Ricky and Natalie."

Darcey Bussell: "The couple I would like to save, that did the most perfect performance just now, is Ricky and Natalie."

Alesha Dixon: "Well, Laila, I think you actually came out and did a much better job that time around, but for me the best dance of the night – Ricky and Natalie, I want to see you next week."

With three out of five judges' votes going to Ricky and Natalie, Laila and Anton were out of the competition, making Bruno Tonioli and Head Judge Len Goodman's votes unnecessary.

When asked about her time on the show, Laila said: "I've had such a ball."

Talking about her time with Anton, she added: "I would just like to say it's been such a dream dancing with you for the last three months. I've had such a fantastic time. It's been fabulous, thank you."

Anton, who after seven series made it the furthest that he has ever been in the competition this year with Laila, jokingly said of Ricky and Natalie's performance: "They were so annoyingly good, why couldn't you go wrong a few times!"

Speaking about his time dancing with Laila, Anton added: "She's been an absolute joy to be with. We've spent a lot of time in the studio together, you're thrust together, you spend weeks and weeks and weeks together and not once has she moaned or complained – she's argued with me a few times though!

"But she's been an absolute joy and made it fun. Thank you so much."

On tonight's show Laila and Anton were awarded a total of 33 points for their American Smooth and 26 points for their Salsa by the judges giving them a final total of 59 points out of 100.

At the top of tonight's main show, Strictly's professional dancers performed a Cha Cha to Get Ready by The Temptations.

On tonight's separate results show, viewers were treated to a performance from Bette Midler, who sang The Rose accompanied by James and Ola Jordan who danced a rumba.

In addition to this, the professional dancers performed a classic American Smooth to Get Happy by Ella Fitzgerald and Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace performed a passionate Argentine Tango to Quejas De Bandoneon.

In next week's semi-finals the remaining three couples will dance for a place in the all-important grand final and a chance of picking up the glitterball trophy.

Notes to Editors

Strictly Come Dancing is available on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ HD. Tune in to the next episode on Saturday 12 December 2009, at 6.45pm, with the results show at 9.30pm.

Don't forget you can get all the up-to-date gossip on Strictly Come Dancing's sister show, It Takes Two, weekdays at 6.30pm on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two.

For more information and gossip, visit bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing or follow us on Twitter: bbcstrictly.

IV/RB/KS3