Strictly Come Dancing spat as Katie Derham scrapes into the final as Anita exits

Judges’ opinions were divided on whether to axe Katie, 45, or ­Country­­­file’s Anita Rani in a tense dance-off

The bottom two couples Katie Derham, Anton Du Beke, Anita Rani, Gleb Savchenko

Katie Derham has scraped into next week’s Strictly Come Dancing final despite being bottom of the leaderboard by a big margin.

Judges’ opinions were divided on whether to axe Katie, 45, or ­Country­­­file’s Anita Rani in a tense dance-off.

Both women chose to re-perform their second dance from the semi-final, with Katie dancing a waltz against Anita ‘s salsa.

Craig Revel Horwood, who had previously awarded Katie just 4 points for her “awkward and stiff-looking” Charleston, opted to save Anita and partner Gleb Savchenko, saying: “This couple are dramatic, dynamic and risk takers.”

But the rest went for ­newsreader Katie, who performed the waltz with Anton Du Beke.

Anita and Gleb take their final dance

Darcey Bussell said: “I’d like to save this couple because they made no mistakes and they produced a beautiful quality across the dance floor and that is Katie and Anton.”

READ MORE: Kellie Bright defies hip injury agony to make the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing

Bruno Tonioli agreed, saying: “All errors have been erased from my memory, the musical phrasing was worthy of a maestro.”

The final decision came down to head judge Len Goodman, who said: “I’m just judging this on this one dance.