Strictly Come Dancing fans have complained that one star has been given the ‘kiss of death’ this week and urged supporters to ‘rally around them’.
Six couples remain in the running for the Glitterball Trophy as we inch closer to the highly anticipated final.
The ballroom will be flooded with the spirit of theatre this weekend as Saturday sees the return of Musicals Week.
The celebrities and their professional dance partners will be performing routines inspired by theatre classics such as Six, West Side Story and Wicked.
But fans are convinced that one couple are doomed after hearing which song and dance they have been assigned.
Gladiators star Montell Douglas, 38, and his pro dance partner Johannes Radebe, 37, will be dancing the notoriously difficult Rumba to the song I’m Here from The Colour Purple.
Gladiators star Montell Douglas, 38, and his pro dance partner Johannes Radebe, 37, will be dancing the notoriously difficult Rumba to the song I’m Here from The Colour Purple
The ballroom will be flooded with spirit of theatre this weekend as Saturday sees the return of Musicals Week
They have been in the dance-offs more than any of the other couples in the competition.
For the past two weeks, the pair have been in the bottom two, surviving by the skin of their teeth after potential elimination against Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, and Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas.
Week seven also saw them in the bottom two but they were mercifully saved over Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin.
Reacting to their upcoming Rumba routine one fan on Reddit said: ‘I fear Montell has received the kiss of death.’
‘Worried for Montell with a rumba this late in the series and her being in the bottom 2 so many times,’ another wrote.
‘Montell supporters need to unite around her now,’ someone else added.
One viewer said their ‘heart dropped’ when they heard Montell would be dancing the Rumba, adding that their dream of seeing her dance the Charleston ‘is slipping away’.
Some tried to rally Montell fans to vote for her ‘like crazy’, while others called the Rumba assignment a ‘death sentence’.
It comes after fans also claimed that one couple had a huge advantage owing to their choice of song.
Sarah Hadland will be performing Popular from the hit musical Wicked – and while fans of the production have been flocking to cinemas to watch the new film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, not all Strictly fans were happy about the nod to the famous musical.
Viewers believe that the Miranda star, 53, has an unfair advantage because their song is more relevant than others.
Writing in an online forum, viewers complained that the show was fixing the results by allowing Sarah and her partner Vito Coppola to dance to the well-known song., according to The Sun.
One person wrote: ‘Seems particularly unfair that one person gets a dance everyone loves to a song that is extremely in the public eye at the moment, while someone else gets a dance the public can never be bothered with to a musical that is pretty unknown.’
While another added: ‘Top of the leader board will likely be Sarah.’
Others said: ‘Sarah and Vito get a Charleston and a tie in to Wicked – blimey! Popular indeed.’
Another viewers said their favourite dancer is being purposefully pushed out of the competition.
They commented: ‘The BBC are so obvious with who they want out. I mean, this is practically a ‘tell me you want Montell out without actually telling me’ situation.
And other chimed in, writing: ‘It’s ludicrous to give a rumba on Musicals week to a contestant who’s been in the bottom three times?
‘I see you Strictly producers, I see you. Montell deserves better! I would’ve loved to have seen a Charleston from team Jojo this week!
‘They stitched up Shayne and now they’re stitching up Montell.
‘The difference though is that Montell is too good to leave this early. She should be a finalist! I’m fuming!’
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and is available to stream exclusively iPlayer.
