STRICTLY Come Dancing fans have slammed a major change to the results show after Nigel Harman’s early exit.
The actor was forced to withdraw from the competition early after he sustained a rib injury.
As a result, there was no elimination this week and all four of the remaining dancers made it through to the following week.
Their scores will all be carried over to the following week as they also prepare two dances for the highly-anticipated semi-final.
As such, producers were forced to make a major change to the weekly results programme of Strictly Come Dancing.
Because of the lack of elimination, the dreaded dance-off did not take place.
Meaning Tess and Claudia resorted to extended interviews with all four of the celebrity couples and extra analysis from the upstairs studio sofa.
But fans were quick to take to social media as they passed judgement on the major format change.
Tess, 54, is usually known for standing directly on the ballroom floor as she is the first person to meet the stars after their dances.
However, viewers were surprised to see her sitting down side by side with her co-host Claudia Winkleman, 51.
On X – formerly known as Twitter – one fan jokingly tweeted: “After 20 years, they finally let Tess sit down #Strictly.”
And it seems that Strictly viewers were very much in on the joke as radio presenter Russ Kane responded: “She took sitting down classes in drama school.”
A second fan exclaimed: “I guess they had to put her somewhere. Otherwise she’d not have anything to do for 40 mins.”
“I’m thinking they’ve just used the “No voting” window opportunity in the filming schedule and she’s been temporarily “Powered down” for essential maintenance,” laughed a third.
As a fourth viewer posted “Looks like she’s ready to make a run for it.”
And a fifth added: “And it shows how Claudia is just amazing.”
This was after The Casualty star, 50, broke his silence on his sudden departure.
An emotional Nigel said: “I was leaping off a rostrum and was about to be caught by some handsome men, and as I flew I was Peter Pan and as I landed I was in A&E.
“I’ve done something to my rib, it’s quite painful and I’m a little bit high on painkillers but I’m having a lovely time.”
