Olympic swimmer Tom Dean and his professional dance partner, Nadiya Bychkova were the first team eliminated on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, after their combined scores and fan votes saw them landing in the bottom two. And while fan votes contributed to Dean and Bychkova's elimination, some fans are upset over the fact that these two are out so early in the competition.
According to GBN, after landing in the bottom two and having to dance their Cha Cha in front of the judges again, the duo was eliminated over Neil Jones and Toyah Willcox. The problem is that fans are upset over the decision, with some not understanding how Tom and Nadiyah ended up in the bottom two to begin with. (We should note that it was not a unanimous decision, with judge Anton Du Beke opting to save Dean and Bychkova.)
Strictly Come Dancing viewers who were upset over the elimination took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their shock and outrage over the decision to send Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova home. One viewer posted that they feel the voting was fixed. On X they shared, "already started ‘fixing’ the show then. Tom was far from the worst dancer."
Another X user wanted to know if the judges needed some guidance of their own, posting "Are the mental? Do they need help judging because what the f**k was that decision?"
While it is clear that some Strictly Come Dancing viewers are upset over the results, without the votes from the fans, it is easy enough to end up in the bottom. And of course, Tom Dean may not have been the worse dancer on the dance floor, but he also wasn't the best either. In fact, if you watch his Cha Cha, he looked stiff and uncomfortable at times, which made the flow of the dance feel forced. And that likely contributed to the judges decision to send the swimmer and his partner home.
It should be interesting to see what comes next with Strictly Come Dancing, as fans are clearly passionate about their favorites. But if they want to save them, it looks like they will have to get to voting.
Do you think the right dancer was sent home? Who do you think should have been eliminated?