The BBC's long running dance competition, Strictly Come Dancing, sparked outrage at the weekend. Shocked fans were quick to show their fury at a decision by Shirley Ballas.
On Sunday, October 9, the programme returned for the results show, but ended in what some have referred to as a 'shock dance-off' between dance partners Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice, and Fleur East and Vito Coppola. The winners of the dance-off would remain in the competition.
Both couples took to the dance floor again, with BBC Radio 2 presenter Richie and Giovanni dancing a samba to Hakuna Matata from The Lion King again. It was then the turn of singer and Hits Radio presenter Fleur and Vito rolling out their American Smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid.
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It then came down to the judges to make the final decision on who to save. Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, and Motsi Mabuse all chose to save Fleur and Vito. This meant they had won the majority vote, sending Richie and Giovanni home.
However, there were shockwaves when, as is customary, host Tess Daly asked head judge Shirley Ballas for her decision and she said she would have saved Richie and Giovanni, according to Manchester Evening News. Shirley said: "Well with the two couples the public put in the bottom two I would have saved Richie and Giovanni.”
Tess pointed out: "Of course it makes no difference to the result." But it made a huge difference to fans of show who took to social media to vent their anger at her decision. Some even called for her to be replaced.
One fan of the show asked: "Can we just make Craig head judge already?" Another exclaimed: "Get out of Strictly!" and a third said: "Shirley would have kicked out Fleur? Whaaaaat?"
The comments continued: "I'm sorry, but can the producers replace Shirley next year?" Another added: "Shirley Ballas should be removed from the panel." And someone else said: "Reckon Shirley's had her day."
Twitter users had plenty to say, one even joked: "How do we vote off Shirley?!" With another saying: "Shirley would rather have saved the men darting around in animal costumes than the technically skilled and beautiful dancer Fleur?" Another asked: "Have the producers told Shirley that this year she has to say she'd save the other couple if the other three don't? Two weeks now not unanimous when clearly one of the bottom two out danced the other."
However, some did level up the debate a little. One social media user wrote: "The Twitter anger towards Shirley Ballas tonight is BONKERS. They’ve been voted off so she can give them a sympathetic nod at the end, no harm done."
It is the second week that Shirley has created a lively debate after her decision. She previously said she would have saved Loose Women star Kaye Adams over singer Matt Goss in the first dance-off. Her fellow judges all chose to save Matt and Nadiya. So with three votes to Matt and Nadiya, and it meant Kaye and Kai would be leaving the competition regardless. However Shirley said she would have decided to save them. When asked if she agreed with the other judges, Shirley said at the time: "I didn’t." Host Tess Daly asked: "You didn't?" And Shirley explained: "I thought due to a little better quality, I would have saved Kaye and Kai."
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