Strictly Come Dancing fans were left furious with the judges after claiming Olympic champion Tabby Stoecker was 'undermarked' during Halloween week, with her score of 25 out of 40 prompting boos from the live audience.
As is tradition for the BBC dancing competition, the stars dressed up to celebrate Halloween, with the episode falling on October 31 on Saturday night. While presenters Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe didn't get dressed up, the judges certainly put in the effort. Craig was dressed as the devil, Anton Du Beke was an angel, Motsi Mabuse was a fairy and Shirley Ballas was the ice queen.
Triple dance-off pressure
Adding to the pressure on the remaining contestants was the fact that three couples are being forced to take part in the dreaded dance-off this week in order to secure their place in the competition. The three couples with the lowest combined judges scores and public votes will be forced to dance again, before the judges send home one pair.
The first half of the episode saw Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakey take on the Samba, Australian singer Delta Goodrem dress up as Morticia Addams, and John Nellis wear a latex outfit for his and Katya Jones' Tango.
Tabby's Charleston performance
Tabby Stoecker, best known for winning gold alongside Matt Weston in the skeleton team event at Milan Cortina earlier in the year, danced the Charleston with new Canadian pro Mark Karmalita to Black Magic by Little Mix. Strictly fans may remember when Claudia Fragapane and AJ Pritchard danced the American Smooth to the same song a decade ago.
After having some mistakes with her footwork early on, Tabby found her stride as the routine went on. However, the judges didn't hold back with their criticism. Motsi noted that 'mistakes kept popping in' and Tabby 'needs more confidence in ballroom'. Anton said that she 'needs more space to dance in'. While he 'loved the performance', Craig pointed out her 'mistakes, gapping and lost frame'. Head judge Shirley said that there were 'postural problems, too close at the top'.
Fans react to the scores
In the end, Tabby received sevens from Craig, Motsi and Anton. However, Shirley's score of five gave her and Mark a combined score of 25 points out of 40. The scores resulted in the live audience erupting into a chorus of boos. Tabby said of her score: "I'm an athlete, I live for constructive criticism."
Many fans took to X, previously known as Twitter, to have their say on why they felt Tabby was being undermarked in a week where the stars are desperate to avoid the dance-off. @ultimatesugg said: "tabby scoring the same as greame. what are we even doing anymore lmao #Strictly." @slinehan1 stated: "Mark is such a fantastic pro for his first year, he showcases Tabby beautifully and puts SO MUCH in hold choreography in ballroom dances which I really appreciate. #Strictly."
@notjanpeteh wrote: "ugh i'm really gonna need the british public to come through for tabby tonight #strictly." @lexilex8282 posted: "I get there were mistakes (I didn't notice them though). But I still feel like the judges were a bit hard on Tabby. It was a hard dance and she made it look really great. Maybe because they know she's one of the best so they expect more from her."
@nocontextSCD_ commented: "i don't like these comments and scores towards Tabby and Mark… i get it but i don't like it #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing." @quandromache posted: "how on earth are they marking tabby the SAME as graeme? i love graeme but his dance was not great tonight #strictly."
