Fans of Strictly Come Dancing believe Nigel Harman and Katya Jones will be the next pair ousted owing to their routine.
Some fans have accused BBC producers of’setting up’ the EastEnders star to ‘fail’ since he was allocated the Rumba on Saturday’s show, which they allege is ‘difficult for male celebs’.
Nigel, 50, and Katya, 34, will execute the extremely difficult dance to Celine Dion’s legendary song, It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.
‘Katya and Nigel dancing the Rumba on Saturday, I can see him getting eliminated,’ one concerned X, formerly known as Twitter, user shared.
Another fumed: ‘Deliberately giving Nigel the Rumba this week smacks of producers trying to push him out. The rumba should be played out by the male celebs very early on as it’s the one they all fail on, not 2 weeks from the semi-final.’
Echoing their sentiment, a third raged: ‘Strictly giving Nigel a rumba is criminal.’
Darren Stanton, a body language specialist, disagrees with the viewers and already indicated Annabel Croft, 57, and Johannes Rabede’s time will be up on Saturday.
‘Annabel showed regular signs of nervousness and I could sense she felt out of her depth this week,’ he claimed.
‘She knows she doesn’t have very long to prove her place on the show.’
However, Nigel and Katya avoided the dreaded dance-off last week in Blackpool after executing the quickstep to Duke Ellington’s It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.
Instead, Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell competed against Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington, who were both sent home by the judges.
Despite going through to the following round, Nigel and Katya, who finished second from the bottom of the leaderboard, seemed obviously depleted by their score.
Oh so Nigel really got a Rumba😬
— Lea (@LeaVictoria02) November 21, 2023
Nigel getting a Rumba at this late stage after his mistakes from last week is unfortunate. I hope he isn't being setup for a fall 😬. Not an easy dance for the male celeb.
Love the song choice though 👏🏼 #EastEnders #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing pic.twitter.com/vkRM8ICetl
— Ryan Glendenning (@RyanTheSoapking) November 21, 2023
heart goes out to nigel this week with the rumba 😭
— meg 💫 (@cafejjacques) November 21, 2023
Slightly worried about Nigel doing a Rumba but he has great hip action so I think he can do really well with it, as long as he remembers to breathe. He has a great song, wow us Nigel! #Strictly
— Sia. (@Sias_Creations) November 21, 2023
strictly giving nigel a rumba is criminal
— abby (@abbygsx) November 21, 2023
Deliberately giving Nigel the Rumba this week smacks of producers trying to push him out. The rumba should be played out by the male celebs very early on as its the one they all fail on, not 2 weeks from the semi final. #strictly
— Surviving2024 (@Survivinthe20s) November 21, 2023
On Saturday night, a video published on X (previously Twitter) purported to show him storming off the stage as soon as the cameras stopped recording, clearly angry with the low score.
An audience member who shared the clip wrote: ‘Are #Strictly judges proud of themselves? Nigel’s been broken tonight, couldn’t even face the keep dancing once theme & cameras stopped.’
But Nigel might take heart from the fact that he has a celebrity supporter in the form of Marvel actor Tom Hiddleston, who told Zoe Ball on Radio 2 that he ‘came out of the gate very fast and was impressive.’
https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/met/2023/08/10/2137936699950480572/480x270_MP4_2137936699950480572.
Katya reacted to Tom’s interview by sharing a post on her Instagram Story, writing in celebration: ‘We’ve got a fan.’
As well as Nigel, Bobby and Annabel, Angela Scanlon, Layton Williams and Ellie Leach are the celebrities remaining in the competition.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
