Strictly Come Dancing fans SLAM 'ridiculous' tradition

Strictly Come Dancing fans were left reeling after Claudia Winkleman made a surprise announcement on Sunday's show.

The BBC show is in its second week and as the contestants who had made it through to the next round sat on the blue sofa in the 'Clauditorium', host Claudia dropped a huge bombshell about what would be happening the following week. 

She revealed that for week three of the competition, which is the Movie Week theme, that professional dancer Gorka Marquez and celebrity partner Dr Punam Krishan would be doing the first Couple's Choice routine of the series. 

Introduced to the show in 2018, the Couple's Choice allows the professional and their partner to perform a freestyle routine not restricted to a particular style of Latin or Ballroom.  

Yet fans were left in shock at the announcement, given the Couple's Choice is not usually introduced until later in the series.  

Turning to Gorka and, Dr Punam, Claudia revealed: 'Gorka, you two are doing the first couples choice of the series.'

Gorka, who has been dating former Strictly contestant Gemma Atkinson for six years, answered: 'What we are doing, it's for the first time. This dance style has never been done before'.

Refusing to give anymore away, the  other contestants shared their delight with a flurry of gasps. 

However, not everybody was happy with the couples choice being allowed so early in the competition, and some viewers took to X to vent their frustration:

'No. Absolutely no need for a couples choice in week 3 #SCD #Strictly'

'Couples choice is just a blank canvas to hand out high scores and save somebody. It needs binned. #strictly'

'Couples choice in the 3rd week. Ridiculous. #StrictlyComeDancing' 

The couples choice category was first introduced in series 16 where couples were originally given a choice between three different styles of dance to perform - contemporary, theatre/jazz and street/commercial.

Those three styles were used until Series 19, where the couple’s choice then became a freestyle dance and no longer restricted to a specific style of dance.

Also in the results show, viewers were also left reeling after Olympic swimmer Tom Dean was the first celebrity to be eliminated from the dancing competition.

The triple Olympic gold medallist Tom, 24, and his pro partner Nadiya Bychkova, 35, left the competition following a tense dance off against Toyah Willcox and professional Neil Jones.

Read More

Strictly fans left FURIOUS by judges' 'bizarre' and 'wrong' decision to save Toyah Wilcox over Tom Dean in dance-off as Olympian becomes first star to leave the series : 'He's been robbed!'

After both couples performed their routines again, the judges delivered their verdicts with Craig Revel Horwood choosing to save Toyah and Neil. 

Motsi Mabuse chose to save Toyah and Neil while Anton Du Beke chose to save Tom and Nadiya.

With two votes for Toyah and Neil, and one vote for Tom and Nadiya, head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and chose to save Toyah and Neil.

When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Tom said: 'I've had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible. 

'I wish I could have gone further and done more dances.

'I've had the most fun and I wish we could keep going longer and longer. We'll still go out for loads of brunches I'm sure.'

Tom's professional dance partner Nadiya added: 'To get to know him, he's not just a three-time Olympic champion he's a true gentleman and he taught me how to work really hard and how to put everything in. 

'And you know what? On this programme, sometimes to win, you don't need to win, and that's how I feel this year.' 

It comes after some viewers were left 'feeling sick' following a bizarre comment made by judge Craig Revel Horwood. 

During Saturday night's performances, iust before Love Island's Tasha Ghouri and her professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec perform their Viennese Waltz on Saturday night, Craig chatted with host Tess Daly about the pair's previous dance.

Tess said: 'There's only really one way to describe our social media star, isn't there, Craig?'

Craig replied: 'Skibidi rizz, darling. Ski-bi-di rizz!'

According to Urban Dictionary, the phrase is the 'is the second-highest level of Rizz', a Gen-Z diminutive version of the word 'charisma'.

The remaining 14 couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the Movie Week Special.

Other definitions include the 'charisma displayed by a male to a female' at the start of a conversation, whilst the whole term seems to just be a nonsense joke.

 But viewers were not impressed with the show's apparent attempt to appeal to younger members of their audience as they flooded social media with reactions.

Tom and Nadiya will be joining Fleur East and Janette Manrara for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday.

Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard:  Week 2

1. Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec - 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35 + 30 = 65

2. Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola - 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 32 + 30 = 62

3. JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE - 7 + 7 + 6 + 7 = 27 + 31 = 58

4. Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - 7 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 30 + 26 = 56

5. Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe - 8 + 7 + 7 + 8 = 30 + 26 = 56

6. Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell - 6 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 29 + 23 = 52

6. Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu - 7 + 8 + 8+ 8 = 31 + 21 = 52

7. Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas - 6 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 27 + 23 = 50

8. Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin  - 4 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 22 + 23 = 45

9. Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova - 3 + 6 + 5 + 6 = 20 + 23 = 43

10. Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk - 5 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 21 + 18 = 39

10. Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał - 3 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 22 + 17 = 39

11. Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez - 4 + 5 + 4 + 5 = 18 + 19 = 37

12. Paul Merson and Karen Hauer  - 2 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 15 + 17 = 32

13. Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones - 3 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 18 + 12 = 30