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Strictly Come Dancing has eliminated the fifth celebrity contestant of the season, with fans torn by the outcome.
For the fifth time this year, the public cast their votes for their favourite couples on Saturday night (26 October) after Halloween week saw the duos don their scariest garb for some spooktacular performances.
Following a tense dance-off during Sunday night’s (27 October) results show, it is Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez who have departed left the dancefloor for good.
Noticeably absent from the episode was professional dancer Amy Dowden who required medical attention shortly after her performance on Saturday night. Explaining her leave from the episode, a spokesperson for the BBC stated: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Amy Dowden MBE was unable to be in tonight’s results show.”
Both couples performed their Halloween Week routines again, with Punam and Marquez dancing their Tango to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics. Meanwhile, Ward and Xu did their Paso Doble to “The Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg.
Unfortunately for TV doctor Krishan, who made Strictly history with the show’s first-ever Bollywood routine, the judges made the unanimous decision to save Ward and Xu.
Since the judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Aonton Du Beke – all agreed, head judge Shirley Ballas did not have to vote. She did, however, reveal that she would have voted in line with her fellow judges.
The pair’s departure means there are only 10 couples left in the series, with the finale fast approaching and the competition heating up.
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The decision has left fans divided with some complaining that the judges made the wrong choice.
“Gutted for Gorka and Punam. They were in my fav top three,” one person wrote. “Shayne didn’t really dance, just waved a wand and walked around.”
Another person wrote: “Shane didn’t do any dancing for the first minute and then he was not in time with the music. Not happy with the decision.”
“I thought Punam should have stayed,” said someone else. “I felt that she improved on yesterday’s dance.”
Most, however, accepted the decision as the right choice despite the fact they would miss seeing “lovely” Punam on screen.
“Right result but Punam has been lovely,” said someone else.
A third person added: “Arguably the right decision, but Punam seems utterly lovely and a very classy woman.”
“Such a shame – Punam seems like such a genuinely lovely person,” said someone else.
The mixed reaction does not come entirely as a surprise given that many viewers were unhappy with the judge’s criticism of Punam’s Halloween performance, which earned only 26 points. Ward and Xu received a total of 31 points.
“They are so harsh to Punam every week,” one person wrote at the time. “So harshly scored. Very frustrating.”
Asked by host Tess Daly about her time on the programme, Punam said: “I am really proud of myself. You know I’ve taken on something that’s so out of my comfort zone.
“The one thing that I’ve very much learnt is to say yes more, and that there is no point in your life when you can stop learning new skills.”
Punam told Daly that her family are proud of her accomplishments on the series, going on to thank her professional partner for believing in her.
Marquez was full of praise for his partner: “It’s been incredible, it’s been a fantastic six weeks. I’m very proud of what she has achieved. She’s a GP and a Mum. She had never danced before and I think she improved week by week.”
