Strictly Come Dancing fans called out a discrepancy between the BBC One show judging panel on Monday evening, after Will Mellor was sent home.
The Coronation Street star landed in the dreaded dance-off alongside Fleur East and her dance partner Vito Coppola after the remaining couples took to the ballroom floor in the quarter-finals.
The two couples were then asked to perform their favourite routine of the night once again, as the judging panel of Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas watched over with a judicious eye.
Fleur and Vito performed their Charleston to Tu Vuo Fa L’Americano by Fiorello, after which Will and Nancy performed their Couples’ Choice to a 90s Manchester-inspired medley.
After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts on which couple would be progressing to the final next week, with only Anton deciding to save Will and Nancy.
The former Strictly dancer said he had based his decision on the ‘fine detail’ of the dance-off and was the only judge to note an error he said Fleur and Vito had made with a lift dismount.
Yet after his fellow judges failed to mention the slip-up, viewers at home were left labelling the elimination a ‘fix’.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: “Judges definitely wrong Strictly decision kicking Will out.
“Anton’s right - dance off supposed to be judged not other dances. Fleur’s charleston was very stompy & lifts were questionable. Her paso was fab but she didn’t re-dance that."
A second echoed: “That dance-off wasn’t judged fairly. Only Anton judged it correctly. Fleur’s lifts were awful, she made a mistake. It is supposed to be based on the dance-off.”
“Every week, the judges state they will decide who has to leave *based solely on the dance-off* But tonight they ignored their own rule (apart from Anton),” another chimed.
A fellow viewer wrote: “If Anton saw Fleur and Vito make a small mistake why didn't Shirley???? Shirley was always going to Vote for Fleur. Another Strictly Fix.”
“I think Fleur is fab BUT they made a very obvious mistake,” another fan wrote. “Based on the dance-off alone Will was better and should have gone through to the final. Anton called it right.”
One viewer concluded: “I think it’s a real shame that they chose to send Will home, especially as Anton rightly pointed out that Fleur made a mistake and Will didn’t.
“Fleur has been in the dance-off 5 times, there’s no way she can win next week when it’s based entirely on the public vote.”
The remaining four couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the final time in the hopes of becoming the pair to lift the Glitterball Trophy when Strictly Come Dancing : The Final airs live on December 17.
Strictly returns for the final at 7.15pm on Saturday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
