Strictly’s Janette furious about Aston Merrygold exit

Viewers were stunned when bookies’ favourite Aston Merrygold lost out to Mollie King in Sunday night’s Strictly Come Dancing dance-off.

And the ‘gutted’ JLS star and his dance partner Janette Manrara appeared on Tuesday’s edition ofThis Morning to discuss their shock exit from the BBC ballroom dancing competition.

Dejected looking Aston was diplomatic about being booted off the show, but Janette insisted his early exit was unfair and branded judge Craig Revel-Horwood’s score of four ‘really harsh’.

 

Devastated: Aston Merrygold and his dance partner Janette Manrara appeared on Tuesday’s This Morning to discuss their shock exit from Strictly Come Dancing

This Morning hosts Holly Willouhgby and Phillip Schofield were also up in arms about Aston leaving the show, putting on a very sympathetic display.

‘What happened?’, Janette sighed, while Aston said, ‘I feel gutted. That’s the perfect word for it. I couldn’t put my stamp on the dance’.

Janette declared: ‘I’m less diplomatic about it. I wish we had the chance to see more of Aston.’

Reflecting on Craig’s surprisingly low score of four, Janette said: ‘There’s no right or wrong, everything comes down to an opinion…

Shock exit: Viewers were stunned when bookies' favourite Aston lost out to Mollie King in Sunday night's dance-off

Shock exit: Viewers were stunned when bookies’ favourite Aston lost out to Mollie King in Sunday night’s dance-off

‘But it was really harsh, it didn’t deserve a four. I do respect his opinion, he is a judge – I just really disagree with it.’

Defending her choreography, she said: ‘It was a proper Viennese Waltz, I didn’t add anything. The look wasn’t classic, which was intentional, but the actual footwork was.’

‘We sat down as a team and thought it would be fun. Technically the steps were all traditional.’

Phil chimed in about the lack of votes for fan favourite Aston, claiming viewers at home must have assumed he was safe.

‘It does come down ultimately to voting. Ruth wasn’t in the dance off despite being bottom of the leaderboard’, Janette said.

Upset: 'What happened?', Janette sighed, while Aston said, 'I feel gutted. That's the perfect word for it. I couldn't put my stamp on the dance'

Upset: ‘What happened?’, Janette sighed, while Aston said, ‘I feel gutted. That’s the perfect word for it. I couldn’t put my stamp on the dance’

Fuming: Janette declared, 'It was really harsh, it didn't deserve a four. I do respect his opinion, he is a judge - I just really disagree with it'

Fuming: Janette declared, ‘It was really harsh, it didn’t deserve a four. I do respect his opinion, he is a judge – I just really disagree with it’

Aston – who is backing Alexandra Burke for the win – revealed that his family were more devastated than he was.

He joked: ‘I’m glad my mum doesn’t have Twitter, she’d probably be thumb happy! 

Their TV appearance comes after Craig hit back at fans who claimed he was responsible for the shock elimination, saying it was Aston’s failure to secure enough votes along with his subpar performance in the dance-off that triggered his exit.

The famously acid-tongued judge defended his decision to keep Mollie and AJ Pritchard in the dance show, tweeting: ‘Dear all the judges vote on the dance off alone NOT past performances or potential performances in the future! If you wanna have ur say VOTE’. 

Shocker: Craig Revel Horwood has hit back at fans who claimed he was responsible for Aston Merrygold's shock elimination, saying it was Aston's failure to secure enough votes along with his subpar performance in the dance-off that triggered his exit

Shocker: Craig Revel Horwood has hit back at fans who claimed he was responsible for Aston Merrygold’s shock elimination, saying it was Aston’s failure to secure enough votes along with his subpar performance in the dance-off that triggered his exit

Wow: The famously acid-tongued judge defended his decision to keep Mollie King and AJ Pritchard in the dance show,tweeting: 'Dear all the judges vote on the dance off alone NOT past performances or potential performances in the future!'

Wow: The famously acid-tongued judge defended his decision to keep Mollie King and AJ Pritchard in the dance show,tweeting: ‘Dear all the judges vote on the dance off alone NOT past performances or potential performances in the future!’

After another viewer tweeted ‘It Takes Two must be embarrassing for @CraigRevHorwood & @ShirleyBallas to watch. Final contenders gone over Mollie. Ridiculous’ Craig was quick to take a swipe in response, saying ‘Did YOU vote for him?’ 

But one fan really drew Craig’s ire when they claimed the winner of the show had already been decided, writing: ‘It’s obvious that Debbie is going to win regardless of who gets the most votes’.

This led the star to hit back ‘That darling is biggest load of rubbish I’ve read to date! Audience can turn leaderboard on its head and in the final- judges scores mean 0’

One more follower then wrote ‘Please please please stop with the unfair marking tho. The 4 was not fair’, Craig bit back ‘In YOUR opinion’.  

Hitting back: Craig took to Twitter with a stream of defensive messages in the aftermath

Hitting back: Craig took to Twitter with a stream of defensive messages in the aftermath

Vitriol: After another viewer tweeted 'It Takes Two must be embarrassing for @CraigRevHorwood & @ShirleyBallas to watch. Final contenders gone over Mollie. Ridiculous' Craig was quick to take a swipe in response, saying 'Did YOU vote for him?'

Vitriol: After another viewer tweeted ‘It Takes Two must be embarrassing for @CraigRevHorwood & @ShirleyBallas to watch. Final contenders gone over Mollie. Ridiculous’ Craig was quick to take a swipe in response, saying ‘Did YOU vote for him?’

Claim: But one fan really drew Craig's ire when they claimed the winner of the show had already been decided, writing: 'It's obvious that Debbie is going to win regardless of who gets the most votes'

Claim: But one fan really drew Craig’s ire when they claimed the winner of the show had already been decided, writing: ‘It’s obvious that Debbie is going to win regardless of who gets the most votes’

Twitter stream: One more follower then wrote 'Please please please stop with the unfair marking tho. The 4 was not fair', Craig bit back 'In YOUR opinion'

Twitter stream: One more follower then wrote ‘Please please please stop with the unfair marking tho. The 4 was not fair’, Craig bit back ‘In YOUR opinion’

Craig also told The Sun that he stood by his decision, saying: ‘We didn’t put him in the bottom two, the audience did.  

‘That’s rubbish. I gave a list of what was wrong with it on the night. And Mollie did a better dance in the dance-off’.

And it was claimed that one audience member was so shocked by Aston’s exit that they ended up vomiting all over the studio.  

A Strictly spokesperson told Mail Online: ‘This weekend, a member of the studio audience felt unwell during the filming of the Results Show. The production team made sure they were looked after; and quickly and safely escorted out of the studio during a suitable break in filming.’

Swipe: In the aftermath of the elimination Aston's pregnant girlfriend Sarah Richards tweeted '#bringbacklen' in a swipe at Shirley Ballas who replaced former head judge Len Goodman

Swipe: In the aftermath of the elimination Aston’s pregnant girlfriend Sarah Richards tweeted ‘#bringbacklen’ in a swipe at Shirley Ballas who replaced former head judge Len Goodman

Shock elimination:BBC bosses were reportedly as shocked and 'annoyed' as viewers over Aston Merrygold's early departure from Strictly Come Dancing 

Shock elimination:BBC bosses were reportedly as shocked and ‘annoyed’ as viewers over Aston Merrygold’s early departure from Strictly Come Dancing 

In the aftermath of the elimination Aston’s pregnant girlfriend Sarah Richards tweeted ‘#bringbacklen’ in a swipe at Shirley Ballas who replaced former head judge Len Goodman.

 Former ‘Strictly’ professional James Jordan hit out at Craig, and called his decision to score Aston a four “disgusting”.

He said: ‘He had 25 points … he should’ve been nowhere near the position he was on the leaderboard.

‘Craig put him there, that’s a fact. Craig gave him a four which was disgusting, and you can’t justify that.

‘He’s going to go on ‘It Takes Two’ and say, ‘Oh, it was my opinion, I didn’t like it. I marked it a four and I stand by my four.’

Shock result:They failed to impress with their Viennese Waltz to the Jackson 5's Who's Loving You, after an impressive showing in the Halloween show the week before which saw them get 38 for their sizzling Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit

Shock result:They failed to impress with their Viennese Waltz to the Jackson 5’s Who’s Loving You, after an impressive showing in the Halloween show the week before which saw them get 38 for their sizzling Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit

‘Bulls**t, I call bulls**t. I’m sorry to swear. It is slightly frustrating.

‘I actually could cry for Janette and Aston … for me, it’s ruined the series.’   

Aston and Janette had a score of just 25 at the end of Saturday night’s show, putting them only one place above Ruth Langsford and Anton Du Beke, who were at the bottom of the leaderboard. 

They failed to impress with their Viennese Waltz to the Jackson 5’s Who’s Loving You, after an impressive showing in the Halloween show the week before which saw them get 38 for their sizzling Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit

Shirley was left with the deciding vote after Bruno and Darcey voted for Aston and Craig voted for Mollie, and chose to boot out Aston.     

BBC bosses were reportedly as shocked and ‘annoyed’ as viewers over Aston Merrygold’s early departure from Strictly Come Dancing. 

Unbelievable: Strictly's production team were 'totally horrified and even annoyed to see such a good dancer get the boot'

Unbelievable: Strictly’s production team were ‘totally horrified and even annoyed to see such a good dancer get the boot’

An insider told The Sun: ‘Behind the scenes, the crew were left open-mouthed by the decision and feared it would spark a bad reaction from fans.’

‘Some of the production team were totally horrified and even annoyed to see such a good dancer get the boot when there is so much more of the series left. It’s the biggest shock in the show’s history, without a doubt.’ 

Dance partner Janette Manrara praised the ex-JLS star as “one of the most talented individuals I have ever met”.  

On Sunday’s show, judges Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli opted to save Aston and Janette after both couples performed their dances again.

Darcy said that the duo put on a “more assured performance” while Bruno told the couple that they had “transformed their performance” and it had “much more power, much more impact” than on Saturday night, “it flowed”.

Craig Revel Horwood, who shocked viewers on Saturday night when he gave Aston a four, wanted to save Mollie and her dance partner AJ Pritchard.

‘Based purely on technique for me, the better dance of the evening goes to Mollie and AJ,’ he said.

Delivering her verdict with the final, casting vote, head judge Shirley saved The Saturdays’ singer Mollie, saying it was a “very difficult choice”.

‘Two fantastic couples and it’s very difficult to do,’ she said. ‘On technical accuracy, beautiful flow and full engagement during the dance, I’m saving Mollie and AJ.’ 

Foxtrot: Mollie King dazzled the audience with her Foxtrot to Call Me Irresponsible by Connie Francis with dance partner AJ Pritchard but she was in the dance off on Sunday night

Foxtrot: Mollie King dazzled the audience with her Foxtrot to Call Me Irresponsible by Connie Francis with dance partner AJ Pritchard but she was in the dance off on Sunday night

Close: Mollie was fortunate to remain in the competition following her dance-off on Sunday 

Close: Mollie was fortunate to remain in the competition following her dance-off on Sunday 

Father-to-be Aston said he had enjoyed “every second” of the experience.

‘Everything, from this lady to every single person in here, these four judges… all you amazing lot up there that I get to see and spend so much time with, I’ve made some amazing friends and honestly I’ve had the best time, it’s been amazing,’ he said.

Janette told her dance partner that “I don’t think that I am ever going to have the opportunity to dance with someone like you again, someone who is so talented, so lovely, such a good friend”.

The dancer added: ‘He is one of the most talented individuals I have ever met. You have so much to offer to the world of entertainment and I hope that this is just a small pebble to what you’re going to bring the world because you are amazing.’ 

The hunk pulled out all the stops on impressing the judges by recreating his costume when he first appeared Stars In Their Eyes as Michael Jackson in 2002.    

Emotional: Earning 28 points, Mollie looked close to tears as she got the same points as the week previous

Emotional: Earning 28 points, Mollie looked close to tears as she got the same points as the week previous

Angry fans previously claimed Craig’s ‘ridiculous underscored’ the JLS star after the judge handed the singer a measly four for his dance on Saturday night’s show. 

‘Nah, Craig is wrong for that 4. Aston wasn’t great but he didn’t deserve that score,’ one user wrote.

‘Still so annoyed by the underscoring in Strictly in what world does Aston deserve a 4?! Sort it out,’ another added. 

Others remarked: ‘Aston’s dance was nowhere near a 4 Craig’; ‘Aston’s dance wasn’t that bad. A four, really?’; ‘In what world did Aston deserve a 4’; ‘Aston’s 4 is ridiculous, given who else got a 4.’ 

Shock: Angry fans claimed Craig's 'ridiculous underscored' the JLS star after the judge handed the singer a measly four for his dance on Saturday night's show

Shock: Angry fans claimed Craig’s ‘ridiculous underscored’ the JLS star after the judge handed the singer a measly four for his dance on Saturday night’s show

Glam: Tess Daly, 48, and Claudia Winkleman, 45, proved their style chops once again as they flexed their fashion muscles while kicking off festivities on the latest episode of Strictly Come Dancing

Glam: Tess Daly, 48, and Claudia Winkleman, 45, proved their style chops once again as they flexed their fashion muscles while kicking off festivities on the latest episode of Strictly Come Dancing

 

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