Toyah Willcox left Strictly Come Dancing fans feeling a little perplexed after a comment she made about former competitor Chris McCausland during an interview on spin-off show It Takes Two.
After three consecutive weeks at the bottom of the leaderboard, the Strictly judges opted to send Toyah home over the weekend, saving football legend Paul Merson over the It’s A Mystery singer.
On Monday evening, she made an appearance on companion show It Takes Two alongside her professional partner Neil Jones.
During the interview, Toyah was asked if she had any “tips for the other celebs” still in the competition, she caught Neil and host Fleur East off guard when, through enthusiastic laughter, she declared: “If you don’t wanna do a dance-off, get rid of Chris!”
After a stunned silence, Neil joined in Toyah’s laughter and declared that she’d “chosen her winner already”, while Fleur was visibly lost for words.
“You’re all going to have to face a dance-off!” a chirpy Toyah then added.
The scene left many Strictly fans feeling a little uncomfortable…
i’m abit ??? at this pic.twitter.com/S3dsuZjL9e
— milly ???? (@buswellsdaisy) October 7, 2024
the absolute silence when she said it speaks volumes???? yikes!
— ｋｅｌｌｙ???????? (@kellycrumpton94) October 7, 2024
What!!?? https://t.co/JlhA7vERmd
— wendyj08 ???? (@wendyj08) October 7, 2024
Jesus Christ ???? #Strictlyhttps://t.co/AbZyK00MME
— Michelle Pryde (@michellepryde) October 7, 2024
No Toyah, if you want to get rid of Chris you need to be a good dancer. And that’s why he’s still in the competition and thriving ????????♀️
— carys (@itscarysmun) October 8, 2024
Was it panic I saw on their faces when Toyah said ‘get rid of Chris if you don’t want to do a dance off ‘ …little does she realise Chris is a 100x better dancer than she was and he is there on merit #ItTakesTwo
— DeeCee???? (@Dd1201Diane) October 7, 2024
Dear Toyah, read the room. Also you were the least capable dancer for at least 2 weeks. Chris had nothing to do with it whatsoever
— Ed Whittle (@EdWhittle1968) October 8, 2024
HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Toyah Willcox and Strictly Come Dancing for comment.
So far, Chris – who made history this year as the first ever blind celebrity to compete on Strictly – and his professional partner Dianne Buswell are off to a flying start in the competition, finishing in the top half of the leaderboard every week.
The stand-up comedian has also repeatedly stolen the show with his one-liners over the course of the series.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night at 6.20pm on BBC One.
