Anastasia should have pulled out of the show altogether

Watching someone else leave because she refused to do a dance off with them was very poor on her part

I hope she is next to leave for that

Not really, as the dance off is supposed to be a second go at the routine, the voting for which has nothing to do with the first performance (which is why it's done with a fresh vote from the panel). So to fall back to a rule which *is* to do with the first performance doesn't make sense.

If you think about it, it opens the way for doctor's sicknotes being strategically presented for the DO simply when a competitor feels their second performance is going to be below the standard of the opposition (cos they're exhausted/hungover/whatever) yet they are still ahead in the voting.

In just about every competition, from the World Cup through to a dominoes tournament at your local, not playing (for whatever reason) gets your competitor through to the next round.

However, as the backstage guy elsewhere on DS indicated, it got far murkier than that. The producers were scared of the liability and so shopped around for a rule to get her through. The rules have also been posted here, which allows for their discretion in such matters.

I strongly suspect it will be between her & her doctors whether or not she can carry on!!
Having had experience of this from somebody close to me I will be surprised if they don't advise her to pull out as it is not something you get over quickly!!
I do feel very sorry for Melvin & Janette but if that is the recognised rule in these circimstances then so be it!!

I agree. If she knew that she couldn't manage to do both the main show and the dance off if she was in it, she should have pull out early on Saturday. No one would think any less of her if she had done so.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, I thought that the correct contestant went out. I had him as the poorest dancer last week, and Saturday night did nothing to change my opinion.

I imagine the producers felt they had scored something of a coup at landing Anastacia in the first place: much more of a star than most of the celebs who appear, and an American to boot. To have her go out in the first elimination, therefore, would have been unfortunate. I always thought it was a possibility, however, and not through injury or manipulation, but xenophobia. She is the only non-Brit (or Irish) member of the cast. In these circumstances, a lot of people will vote for one of their own over a foreigner. I am not proud to write that, but I suspect it is true.

So what happens now? She has a week to recover from her injury. If it is as bad as some people maintain, that is unlikely to happen and she may withdraw next weekend. If she doesn't, I don't expect that she will last much longer anyway because her body is no longer up to the demands of the competition.

So should she have bitten the bullet and gone last night? Maybe, but I am inclined to be more forgiving than that. It highlighted the fact that the results show is filmed on Saturday night, so she didn't even have a day to recover. She was still caught up in the drama and tension of the situation and made a decision. No doubt, advice was offered beforehand. With hindsight, it was the wrong decision, but none of us has the benefit of hindsight at the time, and most of us were able to view the situation as bystanders. When you are the one faced with the decision, it's a different kettle of fish.

And also Diva because rather than fobbing off the stupid question of how do you feel to be in the dance off she did the "I'm scared..." bit in full public for maximum effect rather than taking it as aside with the producers.

I do have every sympathy for her to have suffered in the way she has but when she she started on the show she struck me as a has-been star trying to revive her career by shouting and being over the top - typical aging diva behaviour, this episode just re-inforces my opinion.

As this is only the second week she will struggle over the forthcoming weeks, she would have been a much bigger person to have said she cannot continue and allowed Melvin (who I don't know from Adam) to continue but then she wouldn't be in the spot light, would she....

I think she should have taken the "bye" and missed last nights show.

I don't think it would have affected the ultimate result of Melvin leaving, he received the lowest vote from the public and I don't think the Judges would have saved him against anyone else, on last nights form.
He was the worse dancer.

As for Anastacia receiving the sympathy vote in the future, don't forget she got the second lowest public vote, she won't be around very long even if she continues.
I would guess she will retire this week sometime.

I suspect you are right. I do feel for Melvin though, because he might have won the dance off. Who knows.

I really do hope though that Anastacia does withdraw for her own sake and for fairness to the rest of the contestants. It may have been a shock to her that she was in the bottom two as well. I for one would not want her to do any more damage to herself.

21stCenturyBoy, I think I love you.

She's donating her money to a breast cancer charity so I don't expect the pay cheque has anything to do with it.

I think one of my problems with the situation is not liking to see a star I've always enjoyed and admired, act in such an unedifying way. She has a fantastic voice and a really gutsy personality, so watching the meltdown was horrible. And, dare I say it, dreadfully un-British.

From the Beeb's point of view, I'm amazed they were caught napping. They saw the votes coming in and knew she was going to be in the dance-off yet appeared to have no contingency plan. Okay, Melbin was unlikely to go much further, but suppose it had been Will? Would they have sacrificed him? Somehow, I doubt it. Melvin was treated shabbily.

To be honest, at this stage in the competition with the leaderboard as it was, I don't think that anyone actually above Anastasia was in that much danger from combined scores. For Anastasia to beat him, even if he came last on the public vote she would have had to come 7th (ish? ) - so probably wouldn't have been in the dance off herself in that case.

Surely, 14 series of Strictly have taught us they have no contingency plans for anything and bascially problem solve on the hoof as it comes up.

Very well balanced post, well said

such a shame she seems a nice woman

How was it 'unedifying'? I only saw a woman worried about dancing again but saying she would do it. What did you see?

As for being un-British, I can only assume you don't go out much.

Really in the grand scheme of things your problem is irrelevant . Anastacia was worried , upset and frightened about her mastectomy scars rupturing
Your problem about unedify or un Britishness fades into oblivion in comparison . So get bloody ovet it . You have whinged on and on since yesterday about you and your problem and your upset . Jeez woman get some perspective

All I can say that if ever I find myself in a position to have to make a choice on my health or continue in a 'competition', then I would bow out gracefully and let the other person continue. Let them have a chance if only for another round.

Same on twitter, it's not gone down well on there, most think she should have withdrawn

I tend to agree with you . But my post was to the poster who has wailed on and on about her upset at watching it !
Seriously we have no clue of Anastcias frame of mind right then . Worry tends to colour our ability to think straight

Why ? the audience voted and the audience got the result they voted for

The dust may not have settled on this. She may yet be advised to withdraw.
But that in itself will cause a problem.
Either way the BBC aren't going to win.

I just don't get the anger by some especially the idiots on twitter , the dance off didn't exist until series 5 then was cancelled for 8 and 9 and revived in 10, the finals are decided by the viewer so what is wrong with one ep being decided by the people who actually voted .

I don't think anybody is moaning about that. I think most people can't understand - given that the problem is obviously a dance-stopper - why she felt she could contiue to practise for the following weeks. In a case like that, she could have considered the option to retire.

No argument with that.

You aren't going to please everybody.
The BBC put themselves in a difficult situation and made an "instant judgement call."

It's a telly programme for cryin' out loud, where all those taking part get paid. Winners get no more than a bit of a tatty looking trophy. It's not like a "gold medal event."

Perhaps some see it as more than what it is.

This.