DRESSED in Elton John’s signature style, EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick’s quickstep was the highlight of last night’s Strictly.
But now the BBC ballroom show has been plunged into a fix row, after the judges called him out as an early winner, which risks unfairly influencing the voters.
Die-hard fans have also noted that he had an advantage, having won the Strictly Christmas special with his quickstep last year.
Known for his role as Jay Brown on the BBC soap, Jamie, 30 dazzled audiences, as he danced to I am Still Standing in a pink feather boaed costume and glittering sunglasses for movie week, netting him a score of 30.
Following his performance, the judges lavished praise on Jamie, predicting that he could be the one to lift the glitterball.
Anton Du Beke said: “ You know you really are a super super dancer. I think you could be one of the favourites to lift the trophy to be quite honest with you. I think you are an exceptional talent.”
Motsi Mabuse was in agreement, adding: “Yes, Anton, I think the Glitterball is quite close to you!”
The judges’ comments hinted at a strong chance of Jamie clinching the title, prompting host Tess Daly to remark: “Thank you judges. Two out of four mentioned the Glitterball… that’s big news!
But Jamie modestly brushed off the comments by saying: “It’s a bit too early to be mentioning the glitterball, but nonetheless, I appreciate everything they say.”
His performance with dance partner, Michelle Tsiakkas, 29, prompted a slew of mixed comments on social media. One said: “Jamie doing a quickstep when he did a quickstep on the Christmas show and won, feels unfair. This should have been one of the dances he never got to do.”
Another said: “The judges mentioning the glitterball after Jamie’s quickstep, the dance that won him the Christmas special last year.If that’s not a coincidence I don’t know what is.”
Meanwhile another criticized the song choice as being synonymous with actress Jill Halfpenny’s worldbeating jive in the first series in 2004, which has gone down in Strictly history.
They said: “I don’t think anyone should dance to Jilly Halfpenny’s I am still Standing. It will forever be Jilly Halfpennys jive and Jamie is very flat-footed.
Elsewhere, week 3’s movie week was powered with showbiz gusto as the pros were transformed to minions from Despicable Me, with Kai Widdrington taking on the role of Gru and his fellow dancers wearing yellow bodysuits.
But DIY SOS star Nick Knowles and his dance partner Luba Mushtauk were absent from the dancefloor due to a knee injury sustained during the dress rehearsal.
Nick had been due to perform the Charleston to Rain on the Roof from Paddington 2. Strictly rules saw him ‘receive a bye’ through to next weeks show in the hope he has recovered.
Last week Olympic swimmer Tom Dean became the first celebrity to leave the competition with his dance partner Nadiya Bychokova.
