Strictly Come Dancing fans have found out which celebrity is leaving the BBC show this week after details of the dance-off were leaked online, prompting complaints about unfairness and questionable judging.
The programme airs live on Saturday night, but the pre-recorded results show is broadcast on Sunday night, meaning studio audience members know who has been eliminated before the general public at home. Although audience members are expected to keep the result to themselves, most weeks someone leaks the outcome, and fans find out who has left before watching the dance-off on TV.
After the show, keen fans begin searching for the name of the eliminated celebrity on social media. Sometimes results are leaked shortly after the dance-off is recorded on Saturday night, but at times they only become clear in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Viewers React to the Leaked Result
As with every leak, the Mirror has chosen not to reveal the name of the star said to have left, nor the professional dancer paired with them, and will not disclose the name of the star said to have survived the dance-off. Reactions from viewers have been shared carefully to avoid spoiling the result for fans who want to wait until the episode airs on BBC One on Sunday evening.
After learning which star had left, many fans posted their reactions online. One sarcastically said: "Oh what a surprise." Another wrote: "Sorry, how is this fair?" A third shared: "Sadly I saw this result coming." Someone else added: "I liked them both so this is a shame. Not surprised."
Judges' Scores Under Fire
The leak comes as fans pointed out large gaps between the scores given by the judges during the latest live show. "Tonight we had 5 incidences of the judges' scores having a 3 or 4 mark range which is absolutely ridiculous. preferences make a 1-2 mark range reasonable but it's very questionable when the same dance gets a 4 and an 8 or a 6 (average) and a 9 (just less than perfect) #Strictly," one wrote.
"#Strictly tonight's show is just a joke, a total farce. Most of the dancing is rubbish, the scoring is total nonsense and makes a mockery of the word judge," another added. Some fans also criticised the judges for undermarking Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby this week.
"This did NOT deserve a 4 or 6! What is their problem??? Every week they are extremely harsh with this couple, nothing they seem to do is good enough," one fan wrote. "I love them! Hopefully this doesn't knock his confidence too much, he looked so upset and disappointed."
Will Best on Extra Rehearsal Time
Meanwhile, Will Best, who is paired with Dianne Buswell, said he hopes to use the extra rehearsal time he has after Big Brother ended to make progress on Strictly. The TV host said: "I think I can go for it now."
"Before, the way I was doing it was we'd come and do our camera runs [dress rehearsals] on a Friday really early and then I'd have to get on a motorbike to get across London quick enough to get to Big Brother to start rehearsals, and then obviously finish really late."
"So I guess I was maybe a little bit tired on a Saturday because I'd been up really late and all the adrenaline. So I maybe now I will have a bit more sleep going into Saturday. Which could be nice."
