Strictly fans praise judges for eliminating the ‘right’ celebrity after tense dance-off

Judges’ decision, however, has reignited upset over Tom Dean’s elimination last week

Strictly Come Dancing has eliminated the second celebrity contestant of this series – with fans applauding the judges for making “the right choice”.

For the second time this season, the public were able to cast their votes for their favourite couples on Saturday night (5 October) after Movie Week. You can catch up on everything that happened here, as well as take a look at the leaderboard here.

Following a tense dance-off during Sunday night’s (6 October) results show, it is singer Toyah Willcox and professional partner Neil Jones who will be saying farewell to the dancefloor.

The pair’s elimination follows after Olympic swimmer Tom Dean became the first to go last week, alongside Strictly pro Nadiya Bychkova.

This week, Willcox, 66, and Jones, 41, found themselves up against football star Paul Merson and Karen Hauer in the second dance-off of the series.

Both couples performed their Movie Week routines again, with Willcox and Jones dancing the Samba to “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from Little Mermaid.

Meanwhile, Merson and Hauer took on the Cha Cha once again to the theme song of the 1960 western flick The Magnificent Seven.

Unfortunately for Willcox, known for hits including “It’s a Mystery” and “Thunder in the Mountains”, the judges made a unanimous decision to save Merson and Hauer.

(Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Since the judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Aonton Du Beke – all agreed, head judge Shirley Ballas did not have to vote. She did, however, reveal that she would have voted in line with her fellow judges.

It is clear from the reaction of Strictly fans that the majority of viewers feel the same way, with several posting to Twitter/X to praise the elimination decision.

“Right result,” wrote one person simply as others praised viewers for voting for the “right bottom two”.

Viewers were left satisfied as one fan posted, “That Strictly result is what you call the correct result and the public voting for the right people”.

However, others were less forgiving as they recalled the controversial decision to send Olympian Tom Dean home last week.

“The shock this week is that she didn’t go last week!” wrote another on X/Twitter.

Neither the decision to eliminate Willcox and Jones, nor the audience reaction to the elimination, comes as a surprise given that many viewers found both of the musician’s dances so far to be lacking.

“I bloody love Toyah and have done for 40-odd years, but she cannot dance, bless her. Still, what a total sport she is,” said one person.

Not everyone agreed as one person hit out at Merson being saved, “Poor judge’s decision. Populism honestly think not only was Toyah better but she’d have loved to continue whereas they’ll make Paul do the conga next week or something “.

Willcox, however, is sure to be disappointed with the results after vowing to “prove the doubters wrong” last week when she landed in the bottom two in a dance-off against Dean.

Following her elimination, when asked by host Tess Daly about her time on the show, Willcox called her time on the show “the best two months of my life”.

“It has been fantastic,” said the singer. “I have enjoyed every second. And you [Jones] have been phenomenal, thank you so much.”

(BBC/Guy Levy)

Jones was full of similar praise for his celebrity partner, stating: She has made me laugh so much, I have never seen someone work so hard – I’m the one asking for breaks every now and then! She just kept going, she wanted to learn so much.

“If you saw her in the hallway she’s been practising. Everyone’s been telling me have you seen Toyah practising, she’s brilliant and she’s what Strictly is all about, and I’ve loved every moment.”

The remaining 13 couples will take to the dancefloor next week, as Strictly return on Saturday (12 October) with the results show following the night after (13 October).