Strictly Come Dancing introduced its first three-way dance-off in a major format twist, and it resulted in the elimination of Emmerdale actor Lawrence Robb and professional partner Jowita Przystał. The couple became the fifth to leave the 2026 competition after judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, and Anton Du Beke unanimously voted to axe them.
The Halloween-themed results show saw the three lowest-scoring couples perform again: Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu (Jive to I'm In Love With a Monster by Fifth Harmony), Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu (Salsa to Filthy/Gorgeous by Scissor Sisters), and Lawrence and Jowita (Tango to Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr). In a switch-up, judges voted for the pair to eliminate rather than save. Motsi Mabuse, who had the deciding vote, confirmed she would also have chosen Lawrence and Jowita.
Lowest-Scoring Couple Exits
Lawrence and Jowita were the lowest-scoring of the three, placing second to bottom on the leaderboard with 26 points out of 40. They finished just above Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley, and Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita. Jaime and Carlos scored 27 for their original routine, while Bethany and Nancy scored 30.
Viewers reacted with anger on X, with @salyward calling it 'unfair' to eliminate Lawrence during his first dance-off, branding it a 'ridiculous choice' and noting he had been 'improving each week' while three-time dance-off competitor Jaime had 'reached a plateau'. @HoneyburnBooks called the triple dance-off 'stupid', and @stanmissjaida claimed the soap star was only in the dance-off because of the twist. @C4R013256 blasted: 'What a pointless charade! They still only eliminated one couple so why bother 🤷'.
One-Time Twist
Craig was the only judge voicing excitement over the twist, joking last week when it was revealed: 'My time has finally arrived!' The three-way dance-off was a one-time-only thing, and proceedings return to normal next weekend.
Elsewhere in the results show, professionals performed a group routine to Dracula by Tame Impala, featuring a vocal cameo from Sir Ian McKellen. The 80-year-old actor specially recorded an extract from Bram Stoker's Dracula for the climax of the routine, led by Alexis Warr and Nikita Kuzmin. The episode also featured music from Becky Hill, accompanied by newbie pros Aleksandra Isaeva and Cristian Priori.
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
