Strictly Come Dancing viewers have reacted with anger after Will Best and Dianne Buswell became the seventh couple eliminated from the series, missing out on a place in Blackpool Week.
The Big Brother host and his professional partner lost a dance-off to Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu, who performed their Charleston to I Can't Do It Alone by Catherine Zeta-Jones for a second time. Will and Dianne repeated their paso doble to Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat, having finished bottom of the leaderboard with 27 points.
Judges split over who to save
Judges Motsi Mabuse and head judge Shirley Ballas voted to save Jaime and Carlos, while Anton Du Beke chose Will and Dianne. Craig Revel Horwood held the casting vote and ultimately saved Jaime and Carlos, sending Will and Dianne home.
After the result, Will told Emma Willis he had had 'the most incredible experience' and called Strictly 'the best thing [he's] ever done', besides having a baby. He and Dianne both became emotional as they hugged, with Dianne saying: 'What a guy! The reason I'm crying is because it could've been very hard for me, coming to do this show as a new mum and leaving my little boy, but you made it so easy; you made it the best time ever. You are such a wonderful person to work with.'
Fans react to the result
Reacting to the elimination, fans branded it 'ridiculous' and said they were 'gutted' to see Will leave. @Olivia270291 wrote on X: 'Feel so sorry for will. Jamie and him didn't deserve to be in the dance off'. @RhysxRose raged: 'This better be a joke…..I refuse', while @chazpoppy called the elimination 'disgraceful'.
Several viewers also fumed over Jaime landing in her fourth dance-off, despite scoring 33 with her comeback performance after a week out due to injury. @RyanSoapKing25 said: 'I'm really sad that Jaime is in the dance off for the 4th time. There's no way she deserved to be there this week. What does Jaime have to do to stay out of the dance off?'
@harwood_steve declared that she was 'brilliant' this week, arguing that Graeme Hall, whose quickstep scored 27, 'should have gone' instead. @bettyredondo said it was 'painful to watch' her become emotional as she was saved once more.
Other incidents in the results show
The results show also featured a romantasy-inspired group number with the voice of Tip Toe star and The Traitors US host Alan Cumming. Sebastian 'Bash' Croft, the series winner of The Traitors, also performed, accompanied by a routine from Julian Caillon and Jowita Przystał.
Earlier in the week, Kai Widdrington was taken to hospital, forcing Delta Goodrem to switch pros. She and temporary partner Aljaž Škorjanec had 'a couple of hours' to learn the Argentine tango together, yet still secured Delta's highest score of the series with 35. Anton called it 'gorgeous', while Motsi said she rates Delta 'so highly' for managing to pull off the impossible at the last minute.
Delta said afterwards: 'It was an extremely crazy week, and we're so sad that Kai got so unwell yesterday and had to go to hospital, so we're both sending so much love, watching from home tonight. No doubt he'll be strong and come back.'
Nikita Kuzmin was also called out by Craig for adding several 'illegal lifts' into Dani Dyer's paso doble, with Craig telling the pro: 'You're taking the mick, darling.' Vito Coppola also came to partner Lacey Turner's defence when their foxtrot was criticised, telling Craig: 'I respect you so, so much. I do. But I take full responsibility because I create the choreography, so the responsibility is ours as a pro.'
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
