Strictly Ashley gets yet another cha-cha-chance
She’s in bottom 2 for third time… but despite public backlash, judges save her AGAIN
SHE shot to the top of the leaderboard and was awarded a perfect 40 for her American smooth.
But Strictly Come Dancing’s Ashley Roberts found herself in the danceoff for the third time last night.
The former pop star, who has been criticised for having professional dance training, was saved by the four judges, who instead sent home Lauren Steadman and her partner AJ Pritchard.
American Miss Roberts, 37, and her partner Pasha Kovalev left Craig Revel Horwood lost for words after their second routine of the semifinal. He simply clapped when asked for his thoughts on their stunning performance.
The pair claimed the only perfect score on Saturday night, impressing the judges with dramatic lifts that Bruno Tonioli called ‘out of this world’.
However, some viewers called Ashley’s dance-off win a ‘fix’.
One called Laura wrote on Twitter: ‘WOW what a fix! In the dance off three times, c’mon judges.’ Another wrote: ‘So Lauren and AJ are about to leave. Fix as usual.’
A third posted: ‘It’s an absolute travesty that Lauren Steadman is voted off when a professional dancer stays in. Whose achievement and journey is greater?’ Another unimpressed viewer wrote: ‘Trained dancer from a musical act which will have received massive choreographic support beats disabled woman with zero dancing experience. There’s a surprise. Strictly needs to have a look at itself.’
According to the Mail on Sunday, former Pussycat Doll Miss Roberts is convinced viewers have rejected her, telling friends: ‘They don’t want me here.’ A source told the newspaper: ‘Ashley feels she is not wanted on the show and it is terribly sad for her. She is particularly upset because she wasn’t the one who went to the BBC, begging to be signed up for Strictly.’
On Saturday, Kovalev was asked why his partner should stay in the competition. He replied: ‘I look into her eyes and I see that love for dance that just melts my heart, because as a professional dancer and teacher, that’s the most important thing to me.’
Meanwhile, nerves badly affected Miss Steadman, who scored a total of 54 on Saturday night with partner Pritchard.
The paralympic athlete, 25, made a series of mistakes with her second dance.
Stacey Dooley remains the favourite to win Saturday’s final, with Faye Tozer a 4/1 second favourite and Ashley Roberts an 18/1 longshot.