Leeds boxer Nicola Adams revisits her past for 'emotional' Strictly performance

Taking on the first 'Couples' Choice' dance of the series with partner Katya Jones, Nicola revisited her roots, reflecting on her boxing career, for the contemporary routine to Years & Years song, Shine.

Her performance wowed the judges, scoring three eights, with Shirley Ballas praising the "beautiful storyline" and Craig Revel Horwood saying the dance suited Nicola and he loved the "struggle, the angst, the determination... well done".

In her VT before she took to the dancefloor, Adams described how she grew up on a council estate in Leeds and fell into boxing by "accident".

"My mum couldn't get a babysitter one night for me and my brother and she took us both down to an after-school boxing club that they had and I absolutely loved it.

"After I finished school, I was like 'Right, I want to further my boxing career'. That's when I came across Haringey Boxing Club. I just literally packed my stuff , said bye and moved down to London."

She took Katya to the boxing club to see where she honed her talents despite being told "many times that women's boxing isn't a career and I should get a proper job".

Nicola went on to say: "Boxing definitely did help with my confidence and helping me be who I want to be. I think it's very important to be able to look yourself in the mirror and be happy with you you are. When you have got that kind of self-belief it just gives you that drive to be able to achieve your goals."

After the performance, the visibly moved star took to Twitter to post: "Felt so emotional dancing this routine! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we loved dancing it."

She was inundated with responses from viewers on the social media platform, who seemed to enjoy it as much as the judges did, with comments including: "That was a superb performance, very moving" and "It was amazing I had a little tear".

Nicola's score, when combined with last week's, puts her in second place with 45, behind Eastenders star Maisie Smith and YouTuber HRVY who are joint first with 49 points each.

The first celebrity dancer will be eliminated in tonight's (Sunday) episode.

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