Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left furious on Saturday night after Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley were awarded 27 points despite a routine that included several errors. The couple performed a Quickstep to Happy Days by Pratt and McClain, with Lauren seen supporting her partner after a number of mistakes.
Judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke handed out three 7s and a 6, a score many fans felt was too generous given the performance.
Viewers accuse judges of favouritism
Complaints quickly spread on social media, with one viewer writing on X: "Clear favouritism for Graeme." Another commented: "I mean ok I understand there was illegal lifts in Dani's dance but scoring her the same as Graeme is absolutely diabolical."
A third said: "The scoring gets worse every week! Graeme deserved no more than 5 as he totally forgot what he was doing for a while there." Others echoed the sentiment, with one adding: "Sorry, but Graeme was overmarked," and another asking: "So Graeme was as good as Will's quickstep according to Shirley with that 7? Madness."
Judges' feedback on the routine
Shirley Ballas acknowledged the mistakes in her comments, saying: "I know, in your heart, that you want to stay in this competition. And when you started out, I was leaning over the desk, I was looking at the footwork. Toe, toe, toe, flat, no heels in the wrong place. Some beautiful footwork, but you just got a little bit tangled in the end. Did you feel that little mistake?"
She added: "But let me tell you, if it goes on charisma, if it goes on performance and hard work, you should be good!" Anton Du Beke also noted the errors, saying: "You had a number of mistakes there, unfortunately. I could see what you were trying to do, you were trying to give more... You were double sell tonight. I enjoyed that part of your performance enormously."
What's next on Strictly
The backlash follows last week's elimination of Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, who became the sixth pair to leave after losing the dance-off to Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby. Earlier departures include Chris Appleton, Melanie Walters, Sarah Storey, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lawrence Robb.
This week's results show will see the professionals perform a group routine inspired by the romantasy genre, with Celebrity Traitors champion Bash Croft also taking to the floor before two more couples battle to stay in the competition. Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
