Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones on Strictly Come Dancing (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
Toyah Willcox has broken her silence following backlash from Strictly Come Dancing fans about ‘s elimination.
The singer and actress, 66, faced Olympic swimmer Tom, 24, in the first dance-off of the series. The judges opted to save Toyah and her pro partner Neil Jones over Tom and Nadiya Bychkova, but the decision did not go down too well with fans of the show.
Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse chose to save Toyah, while Anton Du Beke chose to save Tom. Head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote, choosing to send the athlete home and keep Toyah in the competition.
Fans branded the result a ‘fix’ on social media and said the decision was ‘beyond comprehension’. Neil has publicly shared his support for Toyah, and she’s now broken her silence by sharing some big career news.
Toyah and Neil were saved over Tom and Nadiya in the dance off (Image: PA)
Taking to on Monday (30 September), Toyah opted to ignore the storm surrounding the dance off, instead promoting her latest project. The star announced to her 46.7k followers that she will be releasing a ‘special limited edition 10″ vinyl EP’ of her 1982 hit track I Believe in Father Christmas and it is now available to pre-order.
Toyah’s announcement came after Neil shared his support for her on social media. Along with screenshots from their performance, the pro dancer told fans: “Ladies and Gentlemen when you ask me how my Saturday night went. 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. 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.”
While some fans weren’t happy with the decision, others were quick to back Toyah and Neil. One person wrote: “So happy that it wasn’t you going home. We’ve waited too long for you to have another partner. When Anton didn’t save you I was gutted but Shirley did the right thing,” and another adding: “Well done Toyah! Such an improvement over last week. Hats off to Neil for his choreography.”
Taking to Twitter to air their frustrations following Tom’s elimination, one person said: “Absolute fix. They obviously have some deal to give Neil more air time this year. Poor Tom. Not on at all.” Another added: “Tom has been robbed!! Toyah was by far the worse dancer!!! Absolute Fix.” Someone else wrote: “Jeez. First week and already a disgraceful decision. Wasn’t your fault Tom.”
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