BBC One viewers noticed Towie legend Pete, 36, ‘looked furious’ with the head judge’s comments during Saturday night’s installment.
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Strictly fans think Shirley Ballas has left one contestant furiousCredit: BBC
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Pete Wicks didn’t appear to appreciate about her comment about his “chemistry” with Jowita PrzystałCredit: BBC
Shirley, 64, said his chemistry with Jowita Przystał, 30, was “too hot to handle for me” while giving her feedback on their American Smooth – a remark that didn’t seem to go down well with them.
As Pete and the Polish dancer looked on in surprise, fans rushed to their keyboards to share their thoughts.
One tweeted: “pete and jowita did not appreciate that comment from shirley about their chemistry.”
Another added: “I couldn’t actually believe my ears when Shirley Ballas brought up the ‘connection’ between Pete and Jowita . I thought with what’s gone on since the end of last series that they would have stayed away from that sort of thing. Particularly from the HEAD Judge.”
A third got onboard, though, writing: “pete & jowita are my favourites!! so much chemistry.”
Even Motsi Mabuse noticed the pair’s undeniable connection.
She said in her critique: “I think both of you, you had such a beautiful, flirty, romantic atmosphere, and I believed it was authentic. And then you started doing the ballroom part, and it was like a switch went up, and it was all about trying to show the good technique and all of that.”
The couple had been fuelling romance rumours all week with their close connection, and only fanned the flames as they hit the dancefloor this week.
Performing to I Had Some Help by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, Pete and Jowita depicted a country romance between a cowboy and his love interest.
Several points during the song saw them come millimetres away from sharing an on-screen kiss, with Pete drawing Jowita close during moves as she hung from his shoulders.
The song even ended with them leaning in for a kiss on a bale of hay while watching the sun set, before the lights cut off.
Eventually awarded 22 points for their effort, the pair had to rely on public votes in order to keep them in the competition.
Their score placed them third from bottom of the leaderboard, beaten only by Paul Merson and Karen Hauer and Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones.
Eventually, it was Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova who got sent home – with Shirley ruffling feathers once again following her decision to save Toyah.
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
- Tasha and Aljaz = 65 (30+35)
- Sarah and Vito = 62 (30+32)
- JB and Amy = 58 (31+27)
- Montell and Johannes = 56 (26+30)
- Wynne and Katya = 56 (26+30)
- Shayne and Nancy = 52 (21+31)
- Chris and Dianne = 52 (23+29)
- Jamie and Michelle = 50 (23+27)
- Sam and Nikita = 45 (23+22)
- Tom and Nadiya = 43 (23+20)
- Nick and Luba = 39 (18+21)
- Pete and Jowita = 39 (17+22)
- Dr Punam and Gorka = 37 (19+18)
- Paul and Karen = 32 (17+15)
- Toyah and Neil = 30 (12+18)
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Pete and Jowita came close to kissing in their latest routineCredit: ITV
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Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova were sent home yesterdayCredit: BBC
