Fans of Strictly Come Dancing were concerned for Will Mellor during Sunday’s results show this past weekend (October 16).
Viewers took to social media to express their unhappiness with how Will – who’d been ill with a virus – was treated.
Will and dance partner Nancy Xu were floundering at the bottom of the scoreboard before the dance off was confirmed yesterday evening.
With just 23 points, only Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova scored fewer marks with the judges.
Thankfully for Will, the audience who voted for their favourites did not agree.
And so Kym Marsh and Graziano di Prima found themselves in the dance off with Matt and Nadiya instead.
Strictly judges’ scoring of Will Mellor
The judges came under fire for the points they awarded to Will – with Craig Revel Horwood dishing out just four points.
Shirley Ballas meanwhile gave him five, and Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke both awarded Will seven.
In previous weeks, Will and Nancy have notched up scores of 34, 26 and 33.
Will – who trained for only one day last week – went on to reflect whether he should have skipped the show.
He told fans: “Maybe I should have took the week off. But you know what? I’m here to dance and I wanted to do it so I did it.”
And while many supporters were unimpressed with how Will was scored, others were annoyed he was teased for the bottom two during the results show.
Kym and Graziano were the first couple announced for the dance off. But as the tension rose, it came down to Will and Nancy versus Matt and Nadiya.
And some admirers felt it was unfair to put an unwell Will through that experience.
How Will’s supporters reacted
On this occasion, several social media users felt Will’s condition should trump the format of the show.
One angry onlooker fumed: “@bbcstrictly shame on you leaving Will standing to the end. The poor guy was ill and should have had his name called out first to let him go and sit down.”
The poor guy was ill and should have had his name called out first to let him go and sit down.
Another person echoed that thought: “Making an unwell Will go through even more pain by being last one to be confirmed to avoid dance off is harsh.”
And a third person seethed: “I can’t believe that you made Will wait until the last one when he is clearly very poorly.”
Meanwhile, yet another person suggested: “It was unnecessary and unkind to keep an obviously ill and tired Will on his feet throughout the whole guess-who.
“He could have had a seat for at least part of it. Poorly done.”
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Thankfully, Will is now feeling a lot better.
He told Instagram fans chirpily earlier today: “I’m so glad to be feeling better! Happy Monday people! Go and grab it! #positivevibes #happymonday #freshstart.”
Read more: Strictly viewers slam judges for ‘harsh’ scoring of Will Mellor as he breaks silence
Strictly Come Dancing continues this Saturday October 22 on BBC One at 6.40pm.
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