THE crestfallen face of Olympic gold medalist Tom Dean, 24, after he became the first contestant to be voted off Strictly last night, melted millions of hearts.
But even more gut-wrenching were the words he whispered to his dance partner Nadiya Bychova, 35, after it was revealed that the pair had been eliminated.
As Tess Daly told the partnership to take to the dancefloor once last time following the judge's vote, Tom whispered to Nadiya, “I am so sorry.” To which Nadiya replied: “Don’t be sorry.”
The BBC ballroom show enraged the viewers last night after Olympic swimmer Tom, 24 and his partner Nadiya were sent home after going head to head in the dance off with Toyah Wilcox, 66, and Neil Jones.
The judging panel was divided over the decision, with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse choosing to save Toyah, but Anton Du Beke preferred Tom’s performance.
Ultimately however, head judge Shirley Ballas had the casting vote and opted to save Toyah.
read more about
But the decision sparked outrage among die-hard fans, who aired their theories on why Tom had been stitched up.
Some have claimed it was to even out the cast's gender imbalance while others think he angered producers by prematurely announcing his participation over the summer.
Last night and for much of today, the chatrooms of Reddit have been ablaze with post show analysis.
One wrote: "My only thought for getting rid of Tom is because of the male/female weighting and a concern that it’ll become too male heavy too quickly."
Someone else said: "My only thought for getting rid of Tom is because of the male/female weighting and a concern that it’ll become too male heavy too quickly."
A third pointed out: There's already a gender discrepancy and they're probably concerned about losing the female cast. You can guarantee that either Punam or Sam, or both, will be in the bottom next week.
Elsewhere, another suggested: "Are producers mad he revealed he was on the show before the announcement?" with a fifth agreeing: "The thought did cross my mind..."
Breaking her silence, Nadiya wrote: “I really appreciate all the messages but I’m not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet.”
Her former partner on the show Dan Walker was also furious at the decision as he stated that Tom had potential and deserved a longer run to find his rhythm.
He said: “What just happened on Strictly feels a bit messed up.
“@tomdean00’s departure will go down as one of THE early shocks. Lovely bloke who really could have become a great dancer. He looked like he was loving every second of it and @nadiyabychkova looked like she loved teaching him.
“I’m not an expert - and I’m happy for someone to explain - but how he lost that dance off is completely beyond my comprehension. Genuinely thought they could have gone a long way.”
Tom shared both posts, before commenting on the journey himself.
Former It Takes Two presenter Zoe Ball seemed to be on the same page and told Nadiya: “Love you Lady. gutted for you and Tom.”
While Gorka Marquez told Tom: “Gutted for you man but should be product.”
Katya Jones commented: “So gutted for you and Nadiya.”
Following the public vote, the gold-medallist swimmer faced singer and actress Toyah, 66, in the dance-off.
Dazzling in a sequinned fringed outfit to match his dance partner Nadiya, Tom performed the cha cha to Earth Wind and Fire’s Boogie Wonderland with gusto.
Having kicked off the live show on Satruday with the routine he received a score of 20 from the judges bringing his overall total to 43 after being given 23 points for his tango to Harry Styles Golden last week.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Meanwhile Toyah and professional partner Neil Jones restaged their jaunty jive to Nutbush City Limits by Ike and Tina Turner. But they only picked up 18 points and remained at the bottom of the leaderboard with a total score of 30 from her efforts last week.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Second Week Scores
As is tradition, the first week scores are rolled over and combined into the second week. Here’s how the leaderboard now looks after the combined scores
