Strictly fans fuming and claim star was ‘undermarked’ by judges saying ‘he looked broken’
THE Strictly Come Dancing judges have been slammed by fans for undermarking one celebrity and ‘breaking’ him.
Viewers took to social media to express their frustration over the harsh marking of the youngest male in the contest during the weekend’s show.
EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, 30, and Michelle Tsiakkas wowed the audience with their samba during the BBC show’s first-ever Icons Week – but failed to hit a high note with the judges.
The pair scored 31 points for their dance to George Michael’s Faith – but viewers have accused the judges of undermarking the actor.
The new icons theme was introduced especially to mark Strictly’s 20th anniversary.
Head judge Shirley Ballas, who was dressed as Cher, said the dance “hit all the technical elements but lacked connection, dance as a unit”.
One angry fan vented on Reddit: “I think that Jamie was awfully undermarked – what the actual f***??! Samba is ridiculously hard and he was a million times better than everyone that’s done it so far this series! They completely crushed his spirit and unfairly in my opinion!
“The judges seem to be up Sam and Montell’s a** (don’t get me started on Wynne too – he got extra points for singing apparently), whilst Jamie is getting slammed every time he’s not perfect. Same with Sarah over the weeks, though thankfully the last couple of weeks have been better for her.
“To me it seems that they are trying to push Jamie into a dance off, and there are at least 3 dancers a lot worse than him left in this competition.”
A second vexed fan agreed: “The judges broke his spirit by saying that his dance had some problems.”
A third ranted: “Jamie was SO undermarked! Definitely not his best dance but the technique was excellent and I think they knocked his confidence far too much.
“This isn’t the first time they’ve overmarked Wynne and it’s starting to irritate me a little now. He’s not the worst dancer by any means but I do think the judges have marked him far too highly across the last few weeks (that rumba was not worth 30, I’m sorry).”
Another fan expressed: “He was only slightly undermarked but it was more the criticism that was worse – it bordered on nasty from Anton and I really can’t work out why.
“There was just a snide tone and a weirdly malicious look in Anton’s eye – plus he didn’t really even give him any pointers to improve on. It was just “yeah it was meh” but then gave him an 8?!”
One viewer also noted that he hasn’t had much luck in another department either: “He’s been done dirtier than ANYONE in this competition with his costumes.”
Soap actor Jamie was supported over the weekend by co-star Natalie Cassidy, who plays Sonia Fowler (now Sonia Jackson) in the BBC soap.
Fans were delighted to see the Walford star clapping in the audience.
Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin found themselves in the bottom two alongside Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe.
Sam and Nikita danced an American Smooth to Love Story by Taylor Swift and ended up third from bottom of the leaderboard with 29 points.
Montell and Johannes danced a Waltz to I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston and scored an impressive 35 points, placing them fourth on the leaderboard.
However, the public vote saw the two women end up dancing against each other. After they had performed, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke unanimously voted to save Montell and Johannes.
Fans have further claimed the show is fixed to keep Wynne Evans and Pete Wicks far away from the dance off.
Head judge Shirley Ballas remarked former Towie star Pete made “quite a lot of mistakes” while giving feedback following his performance with Jowita Przystał.
And classical singer Wynne, who is partnered with Katya Jones, was blasted for “barely moving” after he blew the judges away with a show-first when he ended his routine with an impressive vocal finish.
Speaking to host Tess Daly after the decision was made, Sam said: “I’m gutted, I just want to say thank you. I’ve learned so much.
“Strictly has just brought that spring in my step back. It’s just been an absolute joy.”