Strictly Come Dancing: Louis Smith bids premature farewell to Sid Owen

id Owen and Ola Jordan with Tess Daly, as Sid Owen becomes the third celebrity to be voted off show Strictly Come Dancing. (PA)

Louis Smith accidentally gave away the result of the Strictly Come Dancing elimination when he fired off an online message offering his commiserations to ousted Sid Owen.

The silver medal-winning star - who wowed the judges on Saturday's show with his zombie tango - wrote a note on Twitter which let slip that Owen was a goner.

He said "it's so sad to say bye" to Sid Owen and Ola Jordan, hours before the results programme was broadcast last night.

The show - featuring a dance-off between the two couples with the lowest scores - is recorded the day before, after filming on the live Saturday programme ends.

Contestants, crew and audience are sworn to secrecy to avoid spoiling the surprise for viewers.

The tweet was later deleted when his mistake was spotted by show staff.

Smith topped the leader board on Saturday night after his performance with partner Flavia Cacace to Rihanna's Disturbia.

They achieved the highest score of the series so far, with 35 points for their performance, including three scores of nine points from judges Len Goodman, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli, while Craig Revel Horwood awarded them eight.

PA