STRICTLY pro Neil Jones has fiercely defended Toyah Willcox after they were saved by the judges in a shock elimination.
80s icon Toyah and Neil found themselves in the bottom two and dancing off against Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova during Sunday night’s episode.
However, despite them being the lowest scores on the leaderboard, viewers and stars alike were shocked when the judges opted to send Tom and Nadiya home.
Sharing a photo from their dance routine, set in a Western saloon, Neil praised Toyah for her drive as fans slammed the show for “fixing” the result to save her.
“Ladies and Gentlemen when you ask me how my Saturday night went,” Neil joked, posting a picture of Toyah mounting the fake bar.
Addressing her performances so far, she said: “I just want to say it’s week 2 @toyahofficial is not a dancer but every day she’s improving, each day I tell Toyah, it might not be perfect but you are improving and at the same time you are not losing who you really are and that is what @bbcstrictly is all about.”
Speaking to Toyah directly, he added: “You bring so much joy in our lives and I feel lucky that I have the opportunity to teach and guide you so we can both entertain.”
Neil’s sweet message to Toyah comes after Nadiya Bychkova couldn’t hide her disappointment at leaving the show early.
In a post on Instagram after the announcement, she simply wrote: “I really appreciate all the messages but I’m not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet.”
But fans spoke for her, calling the moment a ‘fix’ and arguing it was one of the most shock eliminations in the show’s history.
“Absolute fix. They obviously have some deal to give Neil more air time this year. Poor Tom. Not on at all,” wrote one fan.
“Tom has been robbed!! Toyah was by far the worse dancer!!! Absolute Fix” said a second.
A furious third wrote: “No…wrong wrong wrong…..getting fed up with this show now,think the judges must be being told who to save, Tom should have stayed over Torah 100%”
Following the public vote, the gold-medallist swimmer, 24, faced singer and actress Toyah, 66, in the dance-off tonight.
After both couples danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts, with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse both choosing to save Toyah while Anton Du Beke opted to save Tom.
Head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and chose to save Toyah.
Nadiya has revealed her upset about getting sent home[/caption]
