BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Nikita Kuzmin says 'the thing is' as he admits major blunder

Nikita Kuzmin has made a fresh admission about his blunder that left his Strictly Come Dancing co-stars and viewers in stitches. The dancer was back in the ballroom over the weekend alongside celebrity dance partner Sam Quek.

Nikita and the former hockey player performed the paso doble to Elevation from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider for the BBC One dance show's annual Movie Week on Saturday night (October 5), scoring 30 out of a possible 40 from the judges.

The pair were then seen making it through to week four of Strictly's 20th anniversary series during the results show on Sunday night (October 6) which sadly saw Toyah Wilcox and Neil Jones become the second couple to leave this year's competition.

READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans hail 'best ever' couple and tip them to win - but it's not Tasha and Aljaz

But it was during the results show that Nikita experienced a gaffe that will go down in Strictly history. The Celebrity Big Brother star was left 'mortified' after bursting into a rendition of a Shakira song, only to be told he had made an embarrassing mistake.

As the contestants who were safe from the dreaded dance-off gathered on the sofa with host Claudia Winkleman to discuss which routine they would be rehearsing over the coming days, Nikita had his fellow competitors falling on the floor with laughter.

Telling Claudia he and Sam would be performing a samba next week, the dancer decided to reveal their song choice by singing out loud. "First of all," he told the room. "We're dancing the samba. Second of all..." At that moment, Nikita started a rendition of pop singer Shakira's Whenever, Wherever, as Sam and the rest of the celebrities stood up to join in with the chorus.

But as the contestants sat down again, Claudia interjected with a clarification. "Nikita, I love you so much," she said, before informing him: "It was the other Shakira song." Nikita's face dropped as he released his error, putting his hand over his mouth in embarrassment.

Nikita and Sam will in fact be dancing to Hips Don't Lie, the singer's 2005 hit single, during the next live show next Saturday (October 12) and he had s lightly sheepish attempt to sing that song instead.

The moment has since been shared on Strictly's Instagram page with the caption: "Shakira’s hips are shivering after hearing this [crying face emoji] #Strictly." Responding to the post, Nikita wrote: "OMG. Sorry @shakira," before admitting in another comment: "The thing is, I already started choreographing to the song hahahaha."

Sam, meanwhile, said: "This is why we love you @nikita__kuzmin," as Gorka Marquez commented: "I'm still laughing at this." Carlos Gu replied: "@nikita__kuzmin Babe, love you so much." Judge Motsi Mabuse added: "Funniest ever moment @nikita__kuzmin."