Good luck to Anastasia. What the critics seem to be overlooking is that the pubic vote was used instead of judges just as its done in the final of course. On this occasion the public gave fewer votes to the lad. Tough on him but that's the rules.

In my opinion, given the first dance, the judges would have saved Anastasia anyway.

I hope she recovers well but this show is a bit of fun and not worth her health.

Indeed.

Furthermore if she became aware of some of the deplorable things being said about her on social media, I wonder how that's going to make her feel...

In her shoes I'd just tell the smug critics to poke their opinions right up their collective bottoms... and walk away.

The over-the-top reactions towards what is supposed to be "light entertainment" are breathtaking. It's almost medieval. To read some of the comments, you'd think this was something that actually mattered.

I really wish they's just reinstate Melvin, move on and lets get back to watching some dancing, FFS....

Was she popular though? How did she end up in the bottom two if so?
She'll be fine, she's had far more serious setbacks than this!!

Quite. On her tour last year I believe she was pretty energetic and climbing scaffolding, so she would have had no reason to think she couldn't compete.

Would we really expect any better? James is still bitter as hell and while appearing to be unbiased he makes sure he sticks a few knives into those he doesn't like.

If people want to blame anyone it should be the producers, they made the decision to go on public votes, not her. They could have let them both through and then gone for a double elimination.

I'd never heard of her before now. Maybe I'm not alone. Mind you there are a few I'd never heard of.

If she's torn scar tissue etc then there's little chance of her carrying on. If she leaves next week, now she knows she ain't popular, then i'd say that makes Melvins exit more annoying. She comes across as a Diva and looks quite harsh so will be in bottom two quite often so doubt her ego will allow that.

No, Brendan and Anastacia put them in that position. They were both injured on Friday, they rehearsed the new routine on Saturday morning, i would imagine they both knew it wasn't up to standard and there was a chance they'd be in the dance off. Brendan must have known he's been there long enough, he should have explained it to her and asked the producers for a bye, nobody would be complaining about that especially with the nature of her injury and how it could affect her health. Sometimes you have to know when to stop, it's not a sign of weakness if anything it is more a show of strength as you know your limitations and not put your health at risk. That is being strong. (IMO)

People may have only not voted based on the under rehearsed brand new routine. Which was poor. Yet even that got more votes than Melvin's dance.


The other problem is had she taken a bye this weekend, she would have still needed to start training again for Movie week. Now at least if she takes a bye, she can have a full week to recover.

I totally agree. It doesn't always have to be about physical strength and overcoming the physical effects - it's as much the mental battle. Not everyone is able to bounce back from the physical effects and it seems that Anastasia is unluckily one of these people. To have tried and then admitted it is not possible is not in any way a failure - just a sensible decision, which will actually do more for the cause in the long run.

I am very reassured by the above comments that there are kind and thoughtful people on this thread who empathise with BC survivors. Being one, and not having a single day when I don't think about it, these posts are very comforting.

I agree with you.

How nice to see a pleasant thread rather than poisonous bile.

Good luck to Anastasia, a brave lady. I'm sure she will make whatever decision is right for her.

The producers made the decision to go to the public vote and whilst I liked Melvin he was imo the weakest dancer over both weekends and him going was not a travesty. I suspect if Anastasia's problems continue she will have no option but to pull out.

It must be horrible for Brendan too as you can tell he really likes her. It's such a shame.

and thats the reason the negative posts are infuriating me! talk about not seeing the bigger picture, shes done this for the most positive reason, more than any celeb ever has taking part !

The fact she had an injury related to her having cancer in the past should be irrelevant, if she couldn't take part in the dance off she should have withdrawn from the competition.

I have had many family member die of cancer, including my dad, but I certainly don't think what she is doing is brave continuing to train in something as physical as ballroom dancing if she has damaged scar tissue. I'm no expert but I do know people who have had this and it certainly didn't heal up within a couple of days or a week so it will be interesting to see what happens this week but if she does train and dance at the weekend then it will cast doubts over how bad her injuries were on Saturday night which won't do her any favours.

Completely OT- do we know why Anastacia & Brendan were the only ones to do two latins when everyone else did one of each? Thanks.

Sweeping generalisation there .
Not every participant states where their fee will go .Some choose not to trumpet their altruism and prefer to keep charitable work under wraps, personal and separate from their public persona .
Anastacia has announced her desire to donate her fee, that's her choice and well done, but other contestants could be doing good things with their fee or taking part to raise awareness of issues . We cannot assume everyone blows their fee on rolexes or designer kitchens .

Agree with this.

Agree with all of this.

Highlighted the bit pertaining to Strictly - it's very admirable what she has come through but it should not affect the result. If she can't take part in the dance-off then the other contestant gets a walkover into the next round.

Exactly this

It's not hatred or anything like that. I think it comes down to the circumstances, unfortunately she decided, or was advised, to pull out at the dance off stage when she could have legitimately done this earlier, then we wouldn't have had all this fuss. The contestants are allowed one bye, but it was the timing which was poor.

If she is really worried about aggravating this scar tissue then she needs to pull out of the competition because this isn't something which is going to be better within a week. If she 'soldiers on' next week then I fear it will only backfire on her.

I have nothing but admiration though for her, in Len's words, giving it a go but you need to be aware, health-wise, of what you can actually do (and do safely).

I haven't seen any hate either - Scar tissue doesn't stretch as much as natural skin. Anastacia is a very brave strong woman, but I think that she should withdraw from the competition before she does more serious damage to herself.

Concern for her and concern for fairness to other contestants is not hate.

Taking a bye on Saturday would not help at all if she needs time to recover. Rehearsing and dancing right up to the main show, only to have to start all over again ready for Movie week after only a days rest. Plus I suspect she really did not want to let Brendan down.

People do push themselves harder than they should, every single day and for the most part a lauded for doing so. How often have people grumbled about celebrities not really trying when they come on this show? When they do try and go the extra mile despite their own known limitations, they are vilified if it causes a bit of controversy. So damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

She isn't being vilified though. I honestly don't see how anyone could read that into the majority of posts which just politely state that they disagree with her decision.

I agree. I don't understand how people think the way that Melvin was treated was fair.

It's best that she asks for a bye this week. If she dances this week, some people will think that her injury wasn't as serious as she made out.