Strictly Come Dancing‘s head judge Shirley Ballas has responded to fans’ criticism after Fleur East faced the dance-off for the third time this season.
The singer was up against comedian Ellie Taylor, who ultimately became the ninth celebrity to be eliminated after the judges voted for East to stay. Taylor and dance partner Johannes Radebe’s jive had scored only 25 points out of 40 on Saturday night, leaving her bottom of the leaderboard.
East, meanwhile, was third out of the six competing couples after she and Vito Coppola scored an impressive 35.
Although East avoided being sent home, some fans were left unimpressed by her near departure. They blasted Ballas for over-marking Will Mellor and Hamza Yassin — she gave them both 10s in their respective scores of 38 and 37
Her defiant response prompted a Twitter backlash from some people, who denied that their lack of voting had contributed to East’s predicament.
