'Strictly's Pete Wicks or Wynne Evans should have gone home but not Sam Quek'

Opinion: The wrong people were in this week's Strictly dance off

Strictly's Pete Wicks should have been in the dance off. (BBC)
Strictly's Pete Wicks should have been in the dance off. (BBC)

There's been uproar that Sam Quek went home on Strictly — and quite rightly. After the results were revealed in icons week, the hockey player said: "I am gutted because I feel I still had more to give." I was gutted too. The wrong person went home from Strictly this week.

It was the biggest dance off mistake this series since Tom Dean was robbed of his chances against Toyah Willcox. But this time it was partly down to the public who got it wrong because how could the judges choose who should go home this week?

Neither of the couples — Quek and her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin or Montell Douglas and pro Johannes Radebe — had any business of being in the Strictly dance off to begin with.

Pete Wicks and Wynne Evans should have been in the dreaded duel. Instead we watched Quek perform the American smooth to Taylor Swift's Love Story while Douglas did the Waltz to Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You again.

Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse summed it up perfectly on Sunday's results show when she said: "Both girls danced beautifully. It just feels like we're losing girls and girls. I'm like, what's happening?"

Mabuse wasn't the only judge who felt this way. Anton Du Beke said both couples had the potential to be Strictly finalists. He told the audience: "It's disappointing to lose either of these couples because they could have made the final. They're just super, super couples who I thought danced beautifully."

Strictly Come Dancing's Sam Quek went home. (BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing's Sam Quek went home. (BBC)

Either way, the dance off result was going to be unfair this week. Or Another One Bites the Dust, in the words of Queen.

Read more: Strictly

Wicks and his partner Jowita Przystal were sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard with only 22 points. After performing the salsa dressed as the late Freddie Mercury from Queen, the former TOWIE star apologised to his pro dancer and she comforted him.

Strictly Come Dancing's Montell Douglas escaped going home. (BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing's Montell Douglas escaped going home. (BBC)

It was a shame Wicks made a lot of mistakes this week as he truly has been a joy to watch on the dancefloor. We have seen the TV personality fall in love with dancing which is of course exactly what Strictly is all about.

Head judge Shirley Ballas was fair in Saturday's show when she said she wasn't going to nitpick at his mistakes and instead focussed on the fact he carried on with the dance like a "trooper" — but it seems unfair that Quek went home.

Really Wicks should have been performing his routine for a second time. He said as much himself in the Clauditorium, telling Claudia Winkleman: "I can't believe I'm still here and part of me feels like I probably don't deserve to be here!"

Evans and Katya Jones are another couple who should have been in the firing line this week. For weeks, they have been overmarked by the judges. Even notoriously tough critic Craig Revel Horwood is a fan as he called the opera singer a "natural born entertainer" on Halloween week.

Strictly Come Dancing's Wynne Evans sang at the end of his dance. (BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing's Wynne Evans sang at the end of his dance. (BBC)

This week Du Beke said Evans had performed the "best ending" to any dance he had ever seen and he does have a wonderful voice but it's a dance competition, not a singing contest. It was head judge Ballas who pointed out there was a "little hiccup" in the middle of the Rumba.

After this week's dance off disaster, it leaves you wondering surely there has to be a fairer way to reach a verdict than the current Strictly scoring system.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on Saturday.