Gladys Knight Eliminated From ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Gladys Knight has danced her last show on this year’s Dancing With the Stars – and in a slightly cruel twist, it was Motown week that saw the demise of the soul star.

Knight’s exit was close, however. After her final dance duel against the other bottom finisher, Roshon Fegel, the three judges produced a split 2-1 decision on who should go home.

While Knight had made a poor start in this fourteenth series of the celeb talent show, recent weeks had shown more promise – this week was the first time she appeared in the bottom two, for a rumba to ‘My Girl’ on Monday’s show that earned her a meagre 21 from the judges.

Fegen wasn’t much better (23), but was voted off by judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba voted to keep Knight in.

The 67-year-old singer took her defeat with good grace and plenty of talent show clichés, saying she was “amazed” at her “journey”:

“I learned so many things, and found so many friends and family. More than likely they’re going to have us in the dance duel. What-ever!”

As an added bonus, Knight revealed she’s felt a benefit familiar to a lot of previous DWTS contenders – extreme weight loss. The Grammy-winning singer revealed she has lost 60 pounds thanks to the show.

At the other end of the board, opera singer Katherine Jenkins continues to dazzle, scoring a 29 with her samba.

Seven stars remain in the contest, including Jenkins, pro football player Donald Driver and Telemundo star William Levy.