Strictly Come Dancing fans have criticised the decision to send Emmerdale star Lawrence Robb home after he and professional partner Jowita Przystal were eliminated in the BBC One show's first-ever triple dance-off.
The couple fell victim to the new format during the annual Halloween special broadcast on Saturday, October 31, and their exit was confirmed during Sunday's results show on November 1.
Halloween special and leaderboard
Lawrence scored 26 for his tango to Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr alongside Jowita, placing them just above Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita, and Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley, who landed joint bottom of the week six leaderboard.
The three couples with the lowest scores after the public vote were required to perform their routines again in the show's first three-couple dance-off.
Triple dance-off verdict
Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu performed their jive to I'm In Love With a Monster by Fifth Harmony, Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu performed their salsa to Filthy / Gorgeous by Scissor Sisters, and Lawrence and Jowita performed their tango again.
Instead of the usual rule where judges save one of two couples, the panel delivered verdicts on who to eliminate. Head judge Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all chose to eliminate Lawrence and Jowita. Motsi Mabuse, who held the deciding vote this week, said she would have made the same choice if needed.
Fan reaction
Viewers were quick to react on social media. @salyward wrote: "Ridiculous choice to send home someone who has never been in the dance-off and was improving each week, instead of someone who's been in the DO 3 times and has reached a plateau. He was never going to win, but I liked Lawrence and this seems unfair on him."
@Olivia270291 commented: "Gutted is an understatement. But they had it in for him since day 1." @PeaksLfc wrote: "I'm so so so gutted loved him but I knew it was coming." @enthughesed suggested: "They would not have been in the danceoff under the normal rules. Likely the twist was designed specifically for this purpose." @stanmissjaida echoed: "That 3 way dance off was the reason he was there so people will deffo be angry about that Jaime saved by the bell again, thankfully though."
Lawrence and Jowita became the fifth couple to leave the 2026 series.
