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Viewers Strictly Call Samba-Thon ‘Discriminatory’ Against Chris McCausland

Pabio November 24, 2024

Strictly Come Dancing 23.11 (Photo: BBC) — Viewers believe Chris McCausland was at a disadvantage during the Strictly Samba-Thon (Photo: BBC)

Strictly Come Dance viewers criticized the show’s “unfair” decision to revive an element of the series, putting a specific contestant at a disadvantage.

As a departure from the usual format, tonight the remaining couples had to participate in a Samba-Thon, which follows the chaotic original Lindy-Hop-A-Thon from 2018.

The dance challenge offered the stars a chance to topple the rankings, as the top scorers received seven points, while the bottom scorers only received one point.

After taking over the ballroom and dancing the samba like their lives depended on it, the pairs, one by one, were asked to leave the floor until only two and one remained. winner can be declared.

The irregular nature of the challenge was widely criticized by viewers, who felt Chris McCausland And Dianne Buswell were doomed from the start, as all seven matings had to dance at the same time.

Regarding X, the public accused the segment of being “in bad taste”, given that Chris is blind and has no concept of spatial awareness.

Viewers argued that the Samba-Thon was particularly unfair as celebrities were even actively encouraged to “move around” on the floor by judge Craig Revel Horwood beforehand.

“I find it shocking that they chose this year to bring back the sambathon when Chris can’t see any of the other couples/be spatially aware of the other couples. Of course he’s going to be eliminated first? That’s not good taste in my opinion,” wrote user X thatsmypeachx.

“Isn’t it a little unfair to do a sambathon with Chris at a competition? This must have an impact on her dancing when other dancers potentially enter her space,’ missp606 added.

She added that Chris’ professional partner Dianne “looked really stressed” throughout the challenge as she “kept him on hold rather than doing something extraordinary” to keep him safe.

Sally Briars wrote passionately: “I’m sorry but the sambathon was very discriminatory towards Chris, he had no idea where the others were and he wasn’t able to do half the moves the other couples were doing because he must be connected to @bbcstrictly’s very poor Dianne.

“I can’t help but think that Chris and Diane never had a chance with the Sambathon!” agreed JackBailey2.

Chris and Dianne were the first couple invited to leave the room tonight, meaning one point was added to their total, placing them second on the judges’ scoreboard.

However, the adorable duo took it in their stride, as when their names were called as the lowest-ranked pair, Chris let out a comical cheer as Dianne beamed.

Viewers turned to X to express their displeasure (Photo: X)

They called the challenge “cruel” (Photo: X)

Strictly the fans were not impressed (Photo: X)

Chris has a lot of support from the public (Photo: X)

Jamie Borthwick was asked to leave next, followed by Pete Wicks. Sarah Hadland was next, while Montell Douglas placed third.

There were only two couples left: JB Gill and Lauren Oakley, as well as Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skornajec.

But there could only be one winner: JLS pop star JB was declared the Samba-Thon champion, earning him a total of 46 points.

That meant he and Tasha, who had the first perfect 40 of the series this weekend, were tied for first place.

During this time it was a moving evening for actor Chris and Dianneas her parents had come from Australia to watch her dance live for the first time in seven years.

They delivered a fiery paso doble for their performance tonight, which brought Dianne’s parents to tears and earned them 32 points.

Speaking before the routine of choice of their couple two weeks ago, Chris, who was clear he doesn’t want “sympathy votes” from the audience, explained that he had signed up to Strictly to do something “scary”.

“I came to think, ‘This might be a bit of a disaster,’ but here we are,” he said.

For use in the UK, Ireland or Benelux countries only. BBC photo of Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell, during their appearance on Saturday's live broadcast of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1. Picture date: Saturday October 12, 2024. PA Photo. See PA SHOWBIZ story strictly. Photo credit should read: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: Do not use more than 21 days after publication. You may use this image free of charge solely for the purpose of publicizing or reporting on current BBC programming, staff or other BBC productions or activities within 21 days of publication. Any use after this period MUST be authorized through BBC Picture Publicity. Please credit the image to the BBC and any named independent photographer or program maker, as described in the caption. — Chris and Dianne are favorites among Strictly viewers (Photo: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Strictly Come Dancing 2024,23-11-2024,TX10 - LIVE SHOW,TX10 - LIVE SHOW,Sarah Hadland, Vito Coppola, Tasha Ghouri, Alja? ?korjanec, Chris McCausland, Dianne Buswell, Pete Wicks, Jowita Przystal, JB Gill, Lauren Oakley, Montell Douglas, Johannes Radebe, Jamie Borthwick, Michelle Tsiakkas, BBC Public Service, Guy Levy — The Strictly final draws closer (Photo: BBC/Guy Levy)

“I surprise myself and everyone else.”

Chris and Dianne’s routine the nation cried again, as this was strictly a premiere when, halfway through, the studio faded away to mimic Chris’s own experience as a blind man.

The BBC declined to comment.

Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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