Fleur East has been backed by Strictly Come Dancing fans who have accused the judges of giving a 'lukewarm' response to her first response, with both their comments and scores.
Former X Factor finalist and I'm A Celebrity star Fleur was named an early favourite with bookies as soon as she was confirmed on the Strictly line-up, with her neck and neck with Helen Skelton as frontrunner in the eyes of many experts, in the hours leading up to Saturday's first live show of the new series. Fleur, who scored a massive chart hit with Sax in 2015, is paired up with new pro Vito Coppola, with him also sparking plenty of interest amongst fans.
They aimed to make a fine first impression on both the Strictly judges and viewers at home with a cha cha cha to Jennifer Lopez's Let's Get Loud. Their routine was like one giant ball of energy, with them covering the ballroom with a performance filled with an array of different steps.
READ MORE: Strictly Come Dancing 2022 line-up as new series starts on BBC
However, for all they praised the energy and power of Fleur's dancing, none of the judges were overly glowing with their praise, with comments including that it was 'a bit out of control' and lacked great technique, with Anton remarking that she needed to 'refine' her performances in the future. Fleur and Vito, who were the last couple to hit the floor, were given a total of 28, after receiving 7s from Craig, Shirley and Motsi and 8 from Anton.
That put them them fourth place on the first leaderboard of Strictly 2022, behind Will Mellor and Hamza Yassin, who were joint first with 34 each and Molly Rainford, who got 32.
And many fans watching a home felt like Fleur and Vito deserved better with both the marks and feedback. Homing in on the judges' critiques, one fumed on Twitter: "Mmmmh not sure why the judges are trying to kill Fleur’s spirit by these comments," with another tweeting: "I think the judges were too harsh on Fleur East. They seemed to more critical of the actual better dancers and voted them lower in comparison to others. That's my final thoughts."
A third reacted: "How the heck did Hamza get 9s but Fleur get 7s when she was clearly better the judges scoring tonight makes no sense."
Read next:
-
Claudia Winkleman welcomes big Strictly change but fans are torn
-
This Morning's Phillip Schofield forced to intervene to halt Royal Family spat
-
Rose and Giovanni's Strictly return leaves viewers close to tears
-
Will Mellor likened to Strictly winner as judges left 'speechless'
-
Giovanni Pernice in Strictly all-male partnership after Rose win
