Strictly Come Dancing's first-ever three-couple dance-off ended with Emmerdale actor Lawrence Robb and professional dancer Jowita Przystal being eliminated unanimously, a result that has left viewers angry.
The couple were the fifth to be axed from the show during the Halloween special. In a twist, the judges voted to eliminate one couple rather than save their favourite, as in previous dance-offs.
Judges' unanimous decision
Lawrence and Jowita faced Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, and Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu, as the three couples repeated their performances. Bethany and Nancy danced their Jive to I'm In Love With a Monster by Fifth Harmony, Jaime and Carlos performed their Salsa to Filthy/Gorgeous by Scissor Sisters, and Lawrence and Jowita performed their Tango to Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.
Craig Revel-Horwood, Shirley Ballas, and Anton du Beke all voted for Lawrence to leave, while Motsi, whose vote had been made the casting one if needed, said she would also have chosen to axe him.
Viewer backlash over the twist
Fans were unimpressed by the Halloween dance-off twist, with many arguing that two couples should have been eliminated if three were dancing against each other, since the two saved couples are likely to appear in next week's dance-off.
One fan said on X: "Ridiculous choice to send home someone in the three-way dance-off. I really liked them, and this seems unfair."
A second raged: "The other two will be in the dance-off next week, though", as a third agreed: "If there's three in a dance-off, it would have been better to get two eliminated."
Ratings context
The backlash comes as Strictly faces a dip in ratings, with viewers dropping to around 4.8million to 5.1million for the live shows, and around 4.5million for the results. However, on overnights alone, Strictly's Saturday live show has consistently retained the number-one overnight spot on its broadcast day.
While it remains one of the BBC's flagship shows, it has seen a significant drop from the 2025 series, which brought in consolidated figures of over 7million.
