STRICTLY Come Dancing is at the centre of fix row, after claims that semi-finalist Pete Wicks has been backed by the BBC, leaving two competent contestants to face the dance off.
Last might British Olympian Montell Douglas and her partner Johannes Radebe, competed against former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and Aljax Skorjanec in the dance off.
But after much deliberation, the judges chose to save Tasha, pushing Montell out of the competition.
But now TV fans have vented their outrage on social media site Reddit, accusing the BBC of forging a strategy to keep reality star Pete Wicks in the dance show, week on week.
One person commented that Pete was given a waltz in Saturday’s show, which is less exposing than other dance styles.
They said: “I thought this week it was very obvious. He is yet to do a jive, Charleston or Argentine tango, all of which are incredibly complex and fast paced compared to the waltz.”
“If you compare his dance to Montell’s it is clear who the producers are favouring. Montell, has to do a rumba in musicals week, in the death slot, to a song from a musical that is largely unknown to the audience (which they don’t explain the plot of either) after she’s had difficulties connecting to the audience.”
And another person commented that even though Pete hasn’t been garnering high marks, It’s clear that he is favoured by the judges.
“The judges (except from Craig)critiquing Montell to no end but when it’s Pete’s turn literally saying they are going to ignore the mistakes he made. Seriously, these double standards and favouring needs to stop,”
Meanwhile one viewer said that he has continuously been given a free pass by the judges.
“Plenty of celebs acknowledge the mistakes they’ve made at the end of dances and yet the judges still point them out.”
“This is also a weekly occurrence for Pete’s judging while the other celebs get judged down to their pinky toes there’s always at least one or multiple judges willingly to give Pete a pass if that was Jamie he would have been ripped to shreds. ”
“The favoritism is blatant and it’s incredibly embarrassing for Shirley especially.”
And another person added: “Why is Pete the one who despite being the worst dancer gets let off time and time again the refusal to criticise his mistakes has been the case since the very first week.”
Saturday night was musicals week and Pete and his partner Jowita Pryzstal performed a waltz to the song, Someday from the 1950s classic, West Side story.
But after the performance that was riddled with errors, the former TOWIE star found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard, having received some hefty criticism from the judges.
Craig Revel Horwood slammed his footwork as ‘shoddy’ and even Anton Du Beke branded the dance a ‘disaster.’
But regardless of his mistakes, the reality star sailed through to the semi-final, as he was seen fighting back tears of awe and disbelief.
When asked how he feels about his achievement, Pete told show’s host Claudia: “I’m speechless every week, especially this week. I didn’t want to let her down tonight by messing it up and I’m so pleased.”
Meanwhile Montell became the tenth celebrity to be eliminated from the competition, after she failed to outdance Tasha Ghouri’s Argentine tango to Ex-Wives from Six, with her Rumba to a song from The Colour purple musical.
Speaking after their exit, an emotional Montell paid tribute to her partner Johannes.
She said: “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.”
