It seemed to me that Fiona actually wanted to leave. She made her leaving speech before she'd even danced and didn't really seem to be trying in the dance off and made loads of mistakes.

Right result based on that dance off in my opinion.
Mark was so lovely to Fiona afterwards too.

And, TBH, whoever survived was just going to go the next week anyway, so meh.

Indeed she was! Incredibly good manners in her defeat.

I, too, think it was the right decision as they were judged on that dance alone. She did make mistakes, all the way through, and was out of synch with the tempo, and Mark did improve from last nights performance.

However, tho FF was not one of my favourites, I commend her graciousness, acted like a true lady

Fiona's performance in the dance off was poor. She made several mistakes and clearly lost her way towards the end. It was a marginal decision, but Mark kept up with the routine and Fiona didn't. I can't get too excited about it as neither Fiona nor Mark are particularly good. Six and half a dozen.

Amending to add that Fiona was very gracious in defeat.

Hahaha no but if I turned over I could see yes that's an American smooth.

Apparently Anton really wasn't trying very hard this series (yes I do have some inside info). I imagine Fiona was happy enough to have got this far and relieved it was all over.

I thought it was the right decision. Mark rose to the challenge. Fiona didn't.

To be honest I did think it was a fairly 50/50 dance off. I'd have been happy either way. In my opinion only, I'd have probably said Fiona was slightly better but there was not much in it so I'm not overly shocked or disappointed at the result.

Wooooohooooooo. Runs round the forum like a loon. I couldn't quite believe the spoiler but the result was so right. Fiona mucked up the dance off & that's what it's about. Only thing I am sorry about is that he wasn't saved from the dance off completely.

Yes, suppose I am a fool really to think that justice would prevail. Yes, I know Fiona made mistakes and if the judges were consistent every week with the rule 'we judge only the dance off' then it would be fair, but it seems to depend upon who is in the dance off. Yes, I also know that she would probably have only lasted another week but there you go.

If Fiona, doing an American Smooth with Anton (alleged king of ballroom), couldn't wipe the floor with Mark, doing a jive with dodgy knees, either in the main show or in the dance off then she deserved the boot.

And she couldn't. That should have been solid, easy territory for her. A nice, straightforward ballroom right in her comfort zone as opposed to Mark's fast Latin that was way out of his. I have no sympathy.

She'd probably have got salsa, samba or jive next week anyway. And nobody really wanted to see that did they?

Both couples were the weakest on the night, so it was the right bottom two. I also think it was the right decision to save Mark. Fiona always looks nervous and on edge, whereas Mark comes out and gives it his all. In the great scheme of things, it doesn't matter which couple went out first because neither would have ended in the final.

It's a bad impression of an airplane that had problems taking off with many unexplained start-and-stops.

Craig! Let's see how he wriggle his way out of this one on Monday!

Mark just can't dance...at least it was a better interpretation of the dance.

Meh, I don't feel like there's really that much between them anyway. Plus, I think no matter which way this DO went, the other would have gone next week anyway..

it was a tricky one, mark obviously has significant limitations, but what he does, he does very well, and he is much more of a natural dancer than fiona. however, i think it was only that she messed up more in the dance off that enabled them to save mark.

Craig was being consistent with his earlier judgement that he thought Marks jive was rubbish - that was the comment that caused Bruce to make his "good for someone of his weight" comment, that forms the subject of another thread.

How can it be sexist when in a field where everyone accepts the women are better by magic we arrive here having had exactly equal numbers of eliminations?

Rigged is I think the word you're looking for...

Absolutely right . Fiona is a better dancer then Mark . What Mark did was not a jive . The guy is far to obese to do a jive .

Keeping Mark in could turn out to be a shrewd move as they now have the perfect sacrificial lamb.

What would have happened if there was a dance off between Abbey / Ashley and Fiona?

If the public had put one of them in the dance off against Fiona and they fluffed it how would it have looked if Fiona had managed a decent dance and still been voted out at that stage?

As long as Mark is in the dance off against a mediocre dancer he may be saved but as soon as he is up against a decent dancer he'll be out.

All the while Mark is in the dance off the judges can keep the power over who goes, and when.

Correct call to send Fiona home tonight, her time had come and nerves got the better of her. Can't possibly see Mark surviving beyond next week, his non-jive and his performance last week that showed he could sit in a chair AND stand still have surely exposed his lack of dancing skills.

Exactly, he's supposed to be dancing a jive which he clearly didn't do. How any judge with integrity could say what he did was a jive are crazy .

I love both Fiona and Mark and gave them both 5 votes last night but wasn't surprised that they were both in the dance off - other than Ben they were up against some very good dances last night.
Unfortunately Fiona made some obvious mistakes in the DO so I think it was the right decision. Ithink both of them were expecting it so it wasn't the usual sad ending. Mark was lovely and Fiona her usual gracious and ladylike self.
It was good to see Anton dancing with Evatta too.

Mark has been given 3 Latins in a row which is very unfair & that has just been put right. He will now have a ballroom & frankly he can ballroom dance better than Ben because he can perform it but BECAUSE he doesn't look like Ben he doesn't get the same scores. Nobody will EVER persuade me that Mark has been anything other than an asset to the show.