Strictly favouritism row as judge gives Fleur East ‘high praise’

Fleur East says Strictly experience is 'difficult to deal with'

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This week saw the remaining contestants take to the dancefloor in a bid to try and earn a spot in the upcoming series final. With each performing two routines as opposed to the regular one, the pressure was on for the celebrities. However, it seems that judge Motsi Mabuse has hinted at which contestant is her favourite.

On Sunday night, the remaining five celebrities each had their last chance to try and secure a place in next week’s Strictly final.

With Hamza Yassin topping the leaderboard with a combined score of 76, after getting 39 and 37 for his two routines, Molly Rainford followed close behind with a total of 75.

After securing the first 40 of the competition, former X Factor star Fleur East found herself in the middle of the board after getting 35 and 39 for her routines which gave her a total score of 74.

Speaking about the high praise that Fleur received after her performance on Sunday, body language expert Dan Stanton believes Motsi favours her in the competition.

Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, he commented: “Fleur also performed very well on Sunday evening and received some great feedback.

“I think she is a particular favourite of Motsi’s, as she does seem to give Fleur really high praise. Similarly to Molly, Fleur has most definitely upped her game compared to previous weeks. 

“She also appeared to be in complete synchronisation and in a deep level of rapport with her partner Vito. It’s clear the pair have complete trust in each other. 

“The show has certainly been a rollercoaster journey for Fleur. She has been all over the leaderboard and has nearly been voted off several times. 

“While she may have been in the bottom two this week, I predict that Fleur will show complete confidence in the final.”

Although the 33-year-old is one of the stars set to dance in the final, she had to fight for her place once again as she found herself in the dance-off against actor Will Mellor.

With Will finding himself at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 70, both couples had to re-perform their favourite routines of the night.

The soap star opted to do his Couples’ Choice to a 90s Manchester-inspired medley with Nancy Xu with Fleur picking her Charleston to dance with Vito Coppola.

After they had both finished their performances, it was time for the judges to decide which star they wanted to save.

Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse decided to pick Fleur and Vito with Anton Du Beke swaying the other way, saving Will and Nancy.

It then all came down to head judge Shirley Ballas who commented that picking between them both was the hardest decision she had to make.

She said: “Both couples were outstanding and not only today but throughout the series. I have loved both of them.”

Saying it came down to the micro details, Shirley opted to save Fleur and Vito, sending them through to the final.

When it came to his final words, Will said: “I have to thank you all for giving me this chance to put a smile on my mum’s face, she deserves it.

“I’ll take whatever I have learnt from this show forward in whatever I do because it shows you can achieve more than you think.”

Strictly Come Dancing: The Final airs on December 17 on BBC One at 7.05pm

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