Strictly Come Dancing fans have criticised judges Shirley Ballas and Anton du Beke for what they describe as a rude and disrespectful problem with pro dancer Jowita Przystal: the pair repeatedly mispronounce her name.
The criticism follows Sunday's results show, which featured the first-ever three-way triple dance-off. Emmerdale star Lawrence Robb and his professional partner Jowita Przystal were eliminated, becoming the fifth couple to leave the competition.
Judges vote to eliminate Robb and Przystal
Lawrence and Jowita fought for their place against actress Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu, and House Of The Dragon star Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu. The three couples faced elimination after receiving the lowest combined judges' scores and public votes.
The judges were tasked with voting to eliminate one couple rather than choosing which couple to save. Shirley Ballas, Anton du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all voted to send Lawrence and Jowita home.
Fans point out pronunciation issue
Writing on the Strictly subReddit, fans noted that Anton and Shirley in particular, as well as new host Johannes, are unable to pronounce Jowita's name correctly. The Polish dancer, 32, joined the show in 2021 and won in 2022, but the judges still do not say her first name properly, let alone her surname.
One fan, u/paintexperty1737, said: "I watched the results show this morning and the way everyone pronounces Jowita's name stood out to me on last night's show more than ever. Shirley says it like she's reading English with a J and a W [Joe-wee-ta]. Anton reads it like the English J but polish W (Jo-vee-ta). I can understand why it might be hard to make certain Polish sounds as a native English speaker, but Craig, Alan Dedicot, Emma and Josh pronounce it Polish with a slightly British accent (Yo-vee-ta), and Motsi says it fine with her accent too. And the yo/vee sound is not particularly hard for an English speaker to make."
The fan added: "Does anyone else find it disrespectful? Especially considering she's been on the show since 2021 and won with her first partner in 2022. Just makes me wonder if Jowita has said whether she minds the way it's being pronounced?"
Viewers call it rude and lazy
Other viewers joined the discussion. u/Moss5056 replied: "It's so rude not to pronounce someone's name properly. She should do it back to them. Surly and Anon."
u/No-version-4077 added: "I personally think that learning to pronounce a work colleague's name properly is the lowest bar of respect there is." u/indeedalife10169 said: "She's been on the show for years and has won, it's just laziness and rude tbh."
u/paperchainhearts added: "I know they definitely don't do it on purpose but it annoys me all the same - I agree it's disrespectful." u/tough-cheetah5659 noted: "Johannes pronounced it multiple times earlier this series as 'Jo-wee-ta'. I thought that this was odd, imagining he'd want to get it right, as his name is often mispronounced."
The remaining ten couples will return to the dancefloor next week at 6.30pm on BBC One on Saturday November 7.
