'Strictly Come Dancing' 5 biggest stories this week: Shirley Ballas judging uproar

It never takes long for the Strictly Come Dancing controversy to start creeping in each series, and the past week has seen the turmoil begin.

A dance off shock, a contestant being trolled and the usual complaints about head judge Shirley Ballas' critiques have all reared their heads in recent days.

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Here's what you might have missed from the world of Strictly this week.

Strictly Come Dancing's 5 biggest stories this week

Dance off shocker

Any celeb signing up for Strictly knows that part of the deal will be unfairly facing a dance off at some point.

Movie week prompted outrage from fans as Fleur East and Vito Coppola unexpectedly found themselves in the dance off against Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice.

It was Anderson and Pernice who eventually lost out, but viewers were vocal about complaining that neither couple, who had been mid table in the scoring, should have been up for elimination.

However, the judges made it clear in their comments that the viewers, who had to vote to keep people in the show, were responsible for the result - leading to a surprise decision from Shirley Ballas...

Shirley Ballas judging controversy

It's a common complaint from Strictly viewers that head judge Shirley Ballas seems to knock down younger female contestants each year, although the dance expert is adamant that she's simply judging the technical elements.

She caused an outcry from the show's fans in the movie week dance off as the only judge who wanted to send Fleur East home, and although it had no bearing on the decision, it angered viewers who felt East was the better dancer.

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Her fellow judges weighed in on the issue, with Anton Du Beke diplomatically saying that they all had their own points they made their decisions based on.

But Craig Revel Horwood wrote in his column in Best magazine: "Shirley seems to get great pleasure from contradicting me this year, doesn't she?!

"She's gunning for the big fight, I reckon. She's got that feistiness in her, she really went for my jugular in the first live show and, well, if you've been watching at all, you'll see she has continued to."

Jayde Adams' 'joyful' Flashdance

Comedian Jayde Adams and her partner Karen Hauer are quickly becoming the fan favourites this year, helped by their Flashdance recreation that viewers labelled "joyful".

It came with a body positivity message that was important to many viewers, as Adams and Hauer performed in matching leotards, beaming throughout the routine.

Speaking before the routine, Adams said: "This week for me is all about showing that dancers come in all different shapes and sizes. You don't have to look a certain way to make people feel happy.

"Two women with very different physiques, dancing together and nailing it."

Despite the overwhelming positivity, the dance brought out some social media trolls who tried to shame Adams for her size.

But she hit back in her own post, pointing out to those who said she was too big to be on Strictly that she was likely to lose weight if she stayed on the show.

She wrote: "I’m getting lots of nice people sending me many DMs worrying about my mental health because stupid people are saying silly things about my weight after my thighs went viral on Saturday night.

"You need to know, I would never allow someone who doesn’t see the idiocy of this logic, to affect my mental health AND if it did creep in, not only do I have Karen but I’m surrounded by people who would either gather round me or if it got REALLY bad, they’d track them and pay them a visit I’m sure."

Will Mellor battling illness

He's been tipped as one of the best performers so far this series, but it looks like a tough weekend ahead for Will Mellor who has been battling a nasty virus this week.

Apparently, the actor has been so ill that he and partner Nancy Xu have been unable to train for their Rumba.

Mellor told It Takes Two: "I've been in bed, I got a bug, a virus. I've not trained all week. We're just hoping Dr Theatre kicks in and I can do what I can for Saturday."

Xu said: "I don't want to lie but there is a little bit of worry inside of me."

Mellor replied: "You're worried - I'm terrified. I'm just praying that I wake up tomorrow and I feel better."

Matt Goss' mates rally round after low scoring

It was clear to see that Matt Goss wasn't too happy with the low scoring for his Viennese Waltz on Saturday, which included a three from Revel Horwood.

He looked barely able to contain his reaction, but some of his friends have been speaking out for him.

Dan Walker, who had the same partner in Nadiya Bychkova last series and also struggled in the early weeks, appeared on This Morning to say that he was backing them and that dancing was "like learning a new language".

Goss' friend Rob Ferguson was more outspoken, telling The Mirror: "There is no consistency and no correlation between comments versus votes. I’m losing my faith in the legitimacy of BBC’s Strictly.

"I cannot reconcile Craig’s descending score for Matt from week one – 5, 4, 3. There’s no question he has improved."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.

Watch: Who is Strictly's Jayde Adams?