Fleur East allowed to restart Strictly dance-off routine after prop incident, BBC confirms

BBC said singer restarted routine as the pair had ‘not begun to dance’ yet

Fleur East was given a second shot at her Strictly Come Dancing dance-off performance again following an “incident with a prop”, the BBC have confirmed.

During Saturday (29 October) night’s Halloween show, the “Sax” singer performed a Salsa to Beyonce’s “Break My Soul”, scoring 32 points on the leaderboard.

However, East found herself in the dance-off once again against EastEnders actor James Bye and his partner Amy Dowden, with both pairs having to perform for a second time.

When East and partner Cito Coppola went to perform, however, their routine was briefly halted and the couple were allowed to restart. They danced again, then were voted through by judges, who made no reference to the incident.

The BBC confirmed that the couple had been allowed to restart during the pre-recorded results show as East and Coppola had “not begun to dance” before the incident occurred.

In a statement shared with the PA news agency, a BBC spokesperson said the show had been stopped “as a matter of urgency”.

“After an incident with a prop at the beginning of Fleur and Vito’s dance-off performance, the decision was made to halt proceedings to check they were not injured, as a matter of urgency,” the spokesperson said.

“As they had not begun to dance before the incident occurred, it was decided they could start the performance again, once it was confirmed they were fit to do so.”

Bye and East in the dance-off (BBC/Guy Levy)

According to sources present at the show, the incident with the prop led to both East and Coppola falling over.

According to reports by Metro.co.uk, East and her partner had no involvement in the decision to stop their performance.

“Poor Fleur looked stunned and devastated, and no one really knew what was happening on or off stage,” a source said.

“Eventually, the warm-up guy came on and addressed the audience while Fleur and Vito got checked out.”

Following the final performances, judge Craig Revel Horwood said it was his “responsibility” as a judge to “save the better dancer”.

Motsi Mabuse, meanwhile, said there were “different levels of dancing on the dance floor.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 5 November at 7pm on BBC One.

Additional reporting by Press Association