Strictly Come Dancing viewers are urging Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby to improve after the pair survived the week seven dance-off, saved by head judge Shirley Ballas's deciding vote.
The Love Island winner and his professional partner landed in the bottom two for the first time in the 2026 series during the results show on Sunday, November 8. They had scored 26 out of 40 for their waltz to That Ain’t You by Mulaa Joans, tying with social media personality John Nellis and Katya Jones at the foot of the leaderboard.
Judges Split Over Dance-Off Performances
In the dance-off, Cach and Maddie faced Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, who reprised their foxtrot to Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis after scoring 30 on Saturday's live show. Judges Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas voted to save Cach and Maddie, while Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood chose Bethany and Nancy, sending the latter pair home.
During the main show, Motsi described Cach and Maddie's waltz as "elegant", but Shirley noted it featured "way too many foot errors", adding: "Some parts are getting better, some need a bit more work."
Fans Call for a Wake-Up Call
The narrow escape prompted a wave of fan demands on social media for Maddie to step up her coaching. @ameliashcps wrote: "As much as i love maddie she needs to LOCK IN next week im literally begging atp." @lookin4gee echoed: "Maddie gotta lock in, I haven't been impressed w/ her work w/ Cach since that Foxtrot. I need them to win, she gotta get it together."
@bigjmamacitaaa posted: "cach mercer & maddie ingoldsby lock in right this second, yall have so much more potential! hopefully this is a BIG wake up call because yall got lucky tonight! #Strictly." @RyanSoapKing25 added: "I really hope this gives Cach and Maddie the severe wake up call they need now. Cash has serious potential but unfortunately he is struggling to catch-up with the others because Maddie is failing him. He needs to start taking the competition a bit more seriously otherwise he'll be at risk."
Cach and Maddie now advance to week eight, where they will need to address the footwork issues highlighted by the judges to avoid another dance-off.
