Yahoo News ‘Winning Strictly Christmas special doesn’t guarantee a place in the final’
Opinion: Here's what I thought of this week Strictly's dance off
It's at that point in Strictly where I don't want to see anyone go home. Judge Motsi Mabuse summed it up perfectly saying: "It's the toughest dance off we've had in a long, long time."
However, I do feel it was the right decision to send Jamie Borthwick home over Gladiators star Montell Douglas.
Unfortunately, winning the Strictly Christmas special last year wasn't going to guarantee the EastEnders actor a place in the final. In the festive special, he had got the perfect 40 score with his pro Nancy Xu while dancing the quickstep.
Borthwick isn't the only star this year competing who has won the Strictly Christmas special. Still fighting for a place in the final is JB Gill who lifted the festive trophy back in 2012 with pro Ola Jordan.
Before the dance off, Borthwick's words come back to haunt him. He had been feeling confident about performing his foxtrot to Ben E. King's Stand By Me again with his pro dancer Michelle Tsiakkas.
Ahead of the dance off, he said: "It's part of the show. In a really funny way I'm kind of a bit pleased I'm experiencing it, because it's the whole experience. I've had the high of the top of the leaderboard, low at the bottom of the leaderboard, experienced the dance-off — I feel like I've had the full package so in a funny way actually all right and I get to dance it again!"
Yet I wasn't completely surprised he was going home.
Douglas had scored a lot higher than the actor in the Saturday live show. The Gladiator and Johannes Radebe quickstepped their way to the quarter final with their second performance to Get Happy by Ella Fitzgerald.
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While she has proved to be a great dancer, it is her second time in the dance off. Gladiator, are you ready... To up your game?
And yes, Pete Wicks escaped another dance off. It's clear is that he is the people's choice dancer. People at home are voting to save him, despite him coming bottom of the leaderboard. The results are calculated by a combination of the judges' scores and viewers voting at home.
We've all watched the former TOWIE star fall in love with dancing and he's improving each week which is what Strictly is all about. Brendan Cole even thinks Wicks would be a good choice for the final.
Before there is any grumblings of complaints over Wicks going through to the quarter finals though, there were a mere two points between him and Borthwick this week. So I don't think it was unfair that Borthwick went home.
Strictly's competition is getting fiercer. Revel Horwood wheeled out his 10 paddle for the first time this series to give former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri a perfect 40. It can be hard to tell who is the professional and who is the dancer while watching Ghouri perform with her pro Aljaz Skorjanec.
Chris McCausland is still my personal favourite to win but it is clear that no one's place in the final is guaranteed. Keep voting to save your favourite.
