Strictly Come Dancing fans rage over ‘unfair’ twist after fifth couple’s shock elimination

For one Strictly Come Dancing couple, they were given a cruel trick instead of a sweet treat this Halloween and became the fifth casualties of the ballroom.

This weekend, the Strictly hair, makeup, and wardrobe teams worked overtime to transform the celebrities, professionals, and judges into monsters, devils, ice queens, and vampires.

But for Ghostbusters Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystał, their Strictly 2026 experience is now dead and buried.

For the first time in a major format twist, the results show introduced a three-way dance-off, throwing another couple into the brutal fight for survival.

Emmerdale actor Lawrence, 34, and Polish pro Jowita, 32, had to face off against Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, and Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu.

All three couples performed their routines again: Bethany and Nancy performed their Jive to I’m In Love With a Monster by Fifth Harmony, Jaime and Carlos performed their Salsa to Filthy/Gorgeous by Scissor Sisters, and Lawrence and Jowita performed their Tango to Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.

Then, in another switch-up, the judges had to vote for which pair they wanted to eliminate, rather than the duo they wanted to save.

The verdict was unanimous, as Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, and Anton Du Beke all voted to axe Lawrence and Jowita.

Therefore, with three votes, they became the next couple to exit the competition.

Motsi Mabuse, who had the deciding vote this week, then confirmed that, if her vote were needed, she would also have chosen to eliminate Lawrence and Jowita.

Lawrence and Jowita were the lowest-scoring couple of the three, as they placed second to bottom on last night’s leaderboard.

With 26 points out of 40, they were just above Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley, and Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita.

Meanwhile, Jaime and Carlos, who have been in several dance-offs, scored 27 for their original routine, and Bethany and Nancy scored 30.

The Halloween twist certainly threw a spanner in the works, as the consensus was that Strictly viewers didn’t welcome it.

Many branded it ‘cruel’ to force another pair who wouldn’t normally have been in the dance-off to perform again, especially given that it wasn’t a double elimination.

Reacting to Lawrence’s elimination, @Henry92589880 on X said they ‘didn’t expect’ him to leave so soon, while @salyward argued it was ‘unfair’ to eliminate Lawrence during his first dance-off.

Branding it a ‘ridiculous choice’, she said he had been ‘improving each week’, while three-time dance-off competitor Jaime has ‘reached a plateau’.

@HoneyburnBooks called the triple dance-off ‘stupid’, and @stanmissjaida claimed the soap star was only in the dance-off because of the twist.

‘Absolutely devastated 💔’, posted @ChrisJW1987, and @C4R013256 blasted: ‘What a pointless charade! They still only eliminated one couple so why bother 🤷’

The only person truly voicing their excitement over the twist was Craig, as Strictly’s resident Mr Nasty joked last week when it was revealed: ‘My time has finally arrived!’

Fortunately for long-time viewers, though, the three-way dance-off was a one-time-only thing, and proceedings return to normal next weekend.

Elsewhere in tonight’s results show, things got spooky when the professionals performed a group routine to viral hit Dracula by Tame Impala, featuring a vocal cameo from none other than Sir Ian McKellen.

The 87-year-old legendary actor specially recorded an extract from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to be heard at the climax of the routine, which was led by Alexis Warr and Nikita Kuzmin.

And for a final Halloween treat, the episode featured music from Becky Hill, accompanied by newbie Strictly pros Aleksandra Isaeva and Cristian Priori.

Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.