South Shields stand-up Chris Ramsey has made it through to the Blackpool heats in Strictly Come Dancing.

Despite coming second on Saturday night with only 26 points for his tango to Survivor with dancing partner Karen Hauer the viewers votes saved him. 

In fact he did not even have to take part in a dance off to stay in the celebrity competition.

His performance on Saturday night had prompted a mix repsonse from the studio judges.

Motsi Mabuse said: "I loved the very serious Chris.. I do feel the footwork could have been a little bit cleaner." 

Shirley Ballas said: "The thing I admired the most is that focus. I found the footwork to be fairly decent." 

Bruno Tolioni said: "I really appreciated the prupose and intent....very very very good effort." 

Resident panto villain Craig Revel Horwood added: "You seriously need to up your game. Technically I thought it was a complete disaster." 

"That was so out of my comfort zone I'm glad i got through it," said Ramsey after the judges had spoken.  

News: Chris Ramsey Tour Dates Extended.

Picture: BBC/Guy Levy