Gladiator and former Olympian Montell Douglas has become the 10th celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing after a surprise quarter-final dance-off.
The 38-year-old and her professional partner Johannes Radebe were defeated in the dance-off by shock competition in the form of Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and her partner Aljaž Škorjanec .
Tasha, 26, and Aljaž appeared in the Musicals Week dance-off despite scoring the joint second-highest with 38 for their Argentine Tango to Ex-Wives from Six The Musical on Saturday’s show.
The couples performed their dances for a second time on Sunday’s results show, after Montell and Johannes had scored 32 for their Rhumba to I’m Here from The Colour Purple on the live show.
Fans were aghast to see Tasha in the bottom two though – as the first, and so far only, celebrity to achieve the full 40 marks for a routine this series.
As one fan described it as ‘insulting the contest’ and multiple branded it ‘shocking’, Gary Oloman complained: ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?. Montell and Tasha in the dance-off for the semi-final. Is the leader board the right way up?’
Leah chimed in: ‘This dance-off is so unfair, WHY are Tasha and Montell against each other.’
‘I genuinely think Montell getting eliminated is one of the biggest injustices in the show’s history. Neither her nor Tasha should have been in the dance-off,’ added @karistbh, while @TashAmaka posted: ‘Absolute joke. Tasha and Montell in the dance off was crazy!’
Some had predicted that Montell might have a tricky week, given that she was dancing the always-challenging Rhumba.
One fan even dubbed it ‘the kiss of death’, given how many celebrities have been given the boot the week they’ve had to dance it.
Meanwhile, Towie star Pete Wicks and his partner Jowita Przystal avoided the dance-off despite scoring just 26 and an obvious mistake on the live show for their waltz to Somewhere from West Side Story.
Elsewhere, JLS singer JB Gill and pro partner Lauren Oakley topped the leaderboard with an almost perfect score of 39 after their Viennese Waltz to Let’s Go Fly A Kite from Mary Poppins.
Miranda actress Sarah Hadland and professional dance partner Vito Coppola also scored 38 for their Charleston to Popular from the musical Wicked, while Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell scored 32 for their Quickstep to You’re The Top from Anything Goes.
After the dance-off, the judges unanimously decided to save Tasha and Alijaz, sending Montell and Johannes home.
After finding out she would be leaving the show, the Olympian said: ‘He (Johannes) has been amazing. Strictly has touched me in ways I never knew possible.
‘I’m an Olympian and a Gladiator, but I have honestly struggled with confidence my whole life and being on the show, with the beautiful crew, the judges, the cast, has just been such an honour.’
Johannes said: ‘I am so proud of you (Montell), because you are a non-dancer. But the one thing that you have done every single week is turn out beautiful dancing.
‘So I want to say to you, thank you for respecting our art form of Ballroom and Latin. The way you handled it was like a true pro. You’re my winner.’
Montell revealed that Johannes had become ‘a friend and a brother’, adding: ‘I hope he’s in my life forever, because we have something very special.’
Sunday’s results show featured a performance of The Schuyler Sisters from the musical Hamilton, and a group number by the Strictly professional dancers to As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard.
The remaining five couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the BBC dancing show’s semi-final, where they will perform two full dance routines for the first time this series.
Last Saturday, they dipped their toes into more than one dance by tackling the Samba-Thon – although it attracted controversy given fans felt it wasn’t a level playing field.
Strictly Come Dancing returns live on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday December 7 at 6.30pm, while the results show will air on Sunday December 8 at 7.20pm.
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