The astrologer was this year’s answer to John Sergeant and Ann Widdecombe, hoofing around the dancefloor to great comic effect. He made his entrance on Saturday night’s Wembley Arena show in typically outrageous style, being fired from a cannon before sailing through the air suspended by wires. But he left the BBC One show last night after polling the lowest score.
Judge Len Goodman told Grant, 60: “I don’t care how many great dancers they have and how many series of Strictly Come Dancing there are, people will always say, ‘Do you remember when Russell Grant flew out of that cannon?’ “It was an iconic number that will always be remembered. Your jive isn’t that great but, as entertainment, you’re the tops.”
After making his exit, Grant said he was thrilled to have made it so far: “I’m just so happy that I got to Wembley. It’s been a struggle for me since Hallowe'en because I need a knee operation and I had to do the jive with both knees strapped up,” he said. “But I had the most brilliant time, although I didn’t realise before we got to Wembley that I’d be flying through the air on a tea tray. I was really quite scared.
“The British public can only do so much to keep me in, and it was an incredible way to go. Really, how could I have topped that next week?”
"He is now weighing up offers from broadcasters to host his own show and credits Strictly with winning him a new generation of young fans. Taking part in the dance series helped him to lose 10 stone - at his heaviest three years ago, Grant was 27 stone and struggled to walk without the aid of a stick. Saturday’s show was broadcast live from Wembley Arena as a one-off to raise money for Children In Need. It scored the highest viewing figures of the series so far, with an average audience of 11.4 million. The show is winning the ratings war with The X Factor, which had an average audience of 10.2 million on ITV1. A BBC spokesman said: “We are absolutely delighted that so many viewers tuned in to watch our Wembley special, making it the most watched show of the week by far.”