Fleur East Speaks Out About *That* Strictly Dance-Off Controversy

Over the weekend The X Factor alum and “Sax” singer Fleur East dodged elimination from Strictly Come Dancing once again after surviving her second dance-off. Her fight to stay in the competition wasn’t without its drama, either. In a super-rare Strictly occurrence, the singer and radio presenter was secretly allowed to restart her dance after an “incident with a prop” and a fall very early in the routine. The mishap wasn’t shown on the pre-filmed Sunday night show, with producers deciding that Fleur and Vito could have another shot at doing their Halloween salsa after being checked over by medics.

"After an incident with a prop at the beginning of Fleur and Vito's dance-off performance, the decision was made to halt proceedings to check they were not injured,” said a BBC spokesperson. "As they had not begun to dance before the incident occurred, it was decided they could start the performance again, once it was confirmed they were fit to do so."

The decision to hide the accident from viewers at home has left some fans of the show puzzled, while others have claimed that Strictly is “fixed.” Fleur and Vito addressed the incident for the first time on Nov. 3, claiming that the decision was out of their hands. "As soon as it happened, I was ready to keep going,” Fleur said on Loose Women. “I always think, 'the show goes on,’ but production decided to stop the music."

"I fell down on the chair,” Vito added, explaining just what had occurred. “Everyone was gasping, but Fleur was ready to keep going. [The medics] made sure I was OK."

With the long-running ballroom dancing competition now going into its seventh week, East and her dance partner Vito Coppola have landed in the bottom two more times than any other contestant, despite being – on average – the fourth best couple on the show.

Some fans of the show were previously left reeling when Fleur ended up in the dance-off with Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice earlier in the season — despite both couples bagging solid, mid-table scores for their performances. Ultimately, Richie ended up getting voted out by judges, with viewers complaining both celebrity dancers never deserved to land in the bottom two.