Many were surprised that the Emmerdale star and his dance partner Katya Jones were voted off the show tonight but others said there were never any £guarantees”
Lewis Cope and Katya Jones with host Tess Daly(Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
Strictly Come Dancing viewers were stunned tonight after Lewis Cope and his partner Katya Jones were voted out of the BBC series, but others think they have worked out what really happened.
Their West Side Story salsa routine received an impressive 35 points from the judges yesterday and they were widely regarded as favourites to win this season. However, Lewis, a 30 year-old actor, found himself in the bottom two after the public vote, facing off against reality TV star Amber Davies and her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin following a public vote.
After the dance-off, the judges decided to save Amber and Nikita, who had topped Saturday’s leaderboard following their Charleston to Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat from Guys And Dolls.
Musical theatre star Amber, 29, now joins EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, internet star George Clarke and former Lioness and sports broadcaster Karen Carney as semi-finalists.
As The Mirror reports, Lewis’s elimination is one of the biggest upsets in the show’s history. Lewis and Katya have impressed Strictly’s judges for much of the competition.
They topped the leaderboard on Halloween Week having bagged the first Perfect 40 of that year’s series.
While many couldn’t quite believe the decision, some insisted the writing had been on the wall for a while, with fans turning away from the polished and professional – Lewis has appeared in the dance musical Billy Elliott as a child – towards stars with a story they could buy into – or, to use the TV term, a “journey”.
One fan posted: “Some of us want to see people on a ‘journey’ still. To see people improve each week.
“To find their confidence. To see people out of their comfort zone. I think that’s what Karen, George and Balvinder represent. I for one am enjoying their journeys.”
Another agreed: “It shows thats not always the best dancers that prove popular, those with “more experience” are not always followed.
“I didn’t know Bal, George or even Kaz before this series but they take my votes every week. Are they the best dancers, no, but they are warm, humble and a joy.”
A third pointed out that the casting votes lie with the public, meaning Strictly is at its heart a popularity contest as much as a dancing one.
They asked: “Is everybody forgetting it’s the public vote that puts people in the bottom two?
“There’s always an element of a popularity contest in Strictly. I didn’t vote for either Lewis or Amber. A 40 isn’t a guarantee of getting through.”
Amber Davies picked up a perfect 40 score but still found herself in trouble after Saturday’s show.
Emmerdale star Lewis has long insisted that his dance past hasn’t helped him. He played Billy Elliott’s friend Michael in the hit musical about a boy who secretly takes ballet lessons.
Lewis was also part of the dance troupe Ruff Diamond, who finished as runner-up on the Sky dance contest Got to Dance, which was fronted by Ashley Banjo, in 2013.
He told OK: “It’s strange to hear that I’m some kind of ‘professional dancer’. It’s been so long since I danced, and I never trained professionally.
“I did Billy Elliot The Musical when I was 11, but I wasn’t good enough to play Billy Elliot, so I played Michael and just did some tap dance.
“After that, I joined a hip-hop dance crew where I did hip-hop with a group of six lads back in Hartlepool, we did amateur competitions.
“Then I went on to train to be an actor and I’ve only ever acted since.”
He said people claiming he was a professional was an “insult” to the hard work and long careers of the show’s pro dancers, adding: “This is the first time I’ve been inside a dance studio for 12 years.
“And now I’m working with people who are actually pro dancers like Katya, it feels like a bit of an insult to those guys. They’ve dedicated their lives to this and they’re incredible.”
