Strictly’s Toyah Willcox eliminated in second dance-off reigniting fan fury over Tom Dean’s shock exit
STRICTLY’S Toyah Willcox has been eliminated after her second dance-off, reigniting fan fury over Tom Dean’s shock exit.
Toyah, 66, and her dance partner Neil Jones, 42, were sent home during tonight’s results show, just a week after she was saved in favour of Olympic swimmer Tom, 24.
They’d gone up against Paul Merson, 56, and Karen Hauer, 42, who had Cha-Chaed to the Them from The Magnificent Seven.
But their Samba to Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid didn’t manage to keep them in the competition.
Judges Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all voted to save Paul and Karen, with head judge Shirley Ballas confessing she would have made the same decision.
Craig put his decision down to bad “timing” and “loss of balance” on Toyah’s part.
Turning to her show partner, the singer said of their connection: “It was immediate. It had to be Neil. I felt so comfortable and safe. You’re a great teacher and friend as well.”
Fans rushed to social media to share their frustration at Tom’s departure in vain.
One tweeted: “Can we get Tom back?” with another agreeing: “Still p****d that Tom left last week.”
Someone else said: “Thank god! Just wish we could have Tom back though.”
A fourth agreed: “Seriously they sent Tom Dean home over both of these piles of kak. I’m still furious.”
Viewers had previously been left convinced that show bosses were trying to get rid of her, thanks to an ‘obvious clue’.
Toyah and Neil were chosen to perform their Samba second during yesterday’s Movie Week installment.
Toyah did little to impress the judging panel as she came out with low scores.
But it wasn’t the scores that Strictly fans thought could land her in the dance-off again.
Many took to X, formerly Twitter, to complain that she had been given the dreaded “death slot” by going second.
The “death slot” refers to the place in the running order which is least likely to throw up success.
It left fans to suspect that the Beeb secretly want to get the 80s pop singer out by giving her the spot.
Writing online, one fan said: “Toyah has the death slot, seems like they want her to go now that she’s made it to Movie Week.”
Another added: “A Samba and Toyah is in the death spot. OH DEAR!”
A third wrote: “Lol @ production doing Toyah and Neil no favours by dumping them in the death slot.”
Before a fourth penned: “Toyah and Neil death slot oh it’s over for them.”
Toyah picked up a poor three from Craig Revel Horwood as well as fours from the other three judges.
It led another fan to quip that the judges were also working to get then out after they were branded “unfairly low”.
The disgruntled viewer said: “Very unfairly low scores for Toyah. The judges want her out.”
Last week, 80s icon Toyah and Neil found themselves in the bottom two and dancing off against Tom and Nadiya Bychkova.
Strictly Curse - The Lowdown
STRICTLY Come Dancing's latest series has already been hit by rumours of a BBC show 'curse' - yet what is it?
A host of Strictly Come Dancing stars have been struck by the Strictly Curse during the past two decades.
This is where celebrities who may or may not be attached in the outside world become more than friends with their professional partners.
A total of 20 relationships are said to have been impacted so far over the show’s 20 years.
It has seen relationships crumble with dance floor romances and punishing rehearsal schedules to blame.
This includes the partnerships of Louise and Jamie Redknapp as well as Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer.
Controversially, Judge Craig Revel Horwood once said of the curse: “I think of it as a blessing, to be honest. One person is married, the other one had a girlfriend but my point in this entire thing is: if you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway.
“There has to be something wrong in your relationship before it all goes awry.”
Series one winner Brendan Cole left his fiancé, fellow Strictly professional Camilla Dallerup, during filming for the very first series in spring 2004.
Brendan was said to have fallen for his celebrity partner and inaugural winner Natasha Kaplinsky, although the duo didn’t confirm they were romantically involved.