Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has defended her scoring after fans accused her of underscoring contestants during Halloween week, which featured the show's first ever three-couple dance off.
Sunday night's (November 1) results show saw Emmerdale star Lawrence and his partner Jowita Przystał, Bethany Antonia with Nancy Xu, and Jaime Winstone with Carlos Gu placed in the bottom three. Bethany and Nancy performed a Jive to I'm In Love With a Monster by Fifth Harmony, Jaime and Carlos danced a Salsa to Filthy / Gorgeous by the Scissor Sisters, and Lawrence and Jowita closed the format with a Tango to Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.
Judges' Decision
Head judge Shirley, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all voted to eliminate Lawrence and Jowita. Motsi Mabuse, who held the deciding vote this week, said she would also have chosen to eliminate the couple had her vote been needed.
Following the Mackenzie Boyd actor's exit, viewers discussed Shirley's scoring across the week, particularly after she gave both Tabby Stoecker and Jaime a score of 5 out of 10. Fans aired their frustrations on social media, with one writing: "Shirley please. i cant keep defending you HOW are you voting graeme so high and tabby and delta so low #strictly #strictlycomedancing." Another commented: "What is happening with Shirley at the moment. Her scores on Strictly and DWTS this week have been even more harsh than normal #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing."
One viewer complained: "Shirley is spoiling Strictly for me with her endless critique and inconsistent marking. 5 for Tabby and Mark was a disgrace #Strictly." Another asked: "Is it just me or is Shirley was really rude tonight?" A further fan wrote: "We need to talk about why Shirley is trying to become Craig because it doesn't work. Craig has always been more the pantomime villain of Strictly and has built this up over 20 years..."
Shirley's Response
Appearing on the spin-off series Strictly: Lights Up after the results aired, Shirley was asked about her scoring by presenter Abi Clarke, who said: "Spooky vibes on the ballroom. People at home are a chatter that possibly your scoring is harsher this week than usual. Did anybody else notice that? I heard you. You said it's nearly and we should be harsher and more technical. Why a couple who may have got a 7 last week, getting a 5 this week."
Shirley replied: "The performance wasn't as good as last week. Everything is according to what I see at that particular time without fear or favour. I don't do fluff. We're not halfway through the competition, we're almost there. I expect to see some of the standards we set at the beginning. If I don't see them and other people use them, that's what I do. I just judge on what I see."
After Anton joked not to 'poke the bear', Shirley added: "5, 6, and 7 is a good score. 8 and 9, you're truly on your way. A 10 is perfect. For me a 5 is a good score, had it been a 2,3 or 4, we could have said it was a low score. 5 is not a low score in my book... The people are getting a 9 and you get a 5, do you want me to give you an 8 when you had a poor outline. You have to judge on what you see and be fair."
Motsi noted: "I love it, I love Shirley so much. If I was dancing and other people were getting 9s and I got a 5, it's a good score." Asked for his take, Craig joked that he only gives 5s if someone 'is sitting on the fence' and not taking risks with their routine.
