Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left unhappy with Anton Du Beke on Saturday night over the “disparity” in his scoring.
The professional dancer-turned judge had fans on social media scratching their heads after handing out what they believed to be inconsistent – despite the fact he recently criticised his fellow judges for over-marking.
Most comments came after Anton awarded Dan Walker and Nadiya Bychkova a nine for their American Smooth routine, which was only awarded a four by Craig Revel Horwood.
Many not only remarked at the huge disparity between the two scores, but also the fact Anton’s mark for Dan did not stand up against other scores given out that evening.
Notably, Anton scored John Whaite and Johannes Radebe the same mark for their Samba, indicating he believed it to be on a level, but they actually ended up being ahead of Dan and Nadiya by nine points on the leaderboard with a score of 38.
Others also remarked how Anton scored Dan just one mark less than Rose Ayling-Ellis for her emotional routine, which he hailed as the “greatest thing” he’d seen in 17 years on the show.
However, Rose’s routine was a full 10 points ahead of Dan’s on the leaderboard, with 39 out of 40.
Complaints about Anton’s scoring come just after the judge slammed his fellow judges for handing out 10s “willy-nilly”.
He told The Sun: “The show is in its 18th year and I have been a dancer for 15 years.
“It took me 15 years to get a 10 with Emma Barton. They are giving them [10s] out willy-nilly this year.”
Anton was promoted to the judging panel this year to stand in for long-standing judge Bruno Tonioli, who is a judge on the US version and was unable to commit to Strictly due to uncertainty around travel restrictions.
Saturday night’s leaderboard was topped by Rhys Stephenson, who scored a perfect 40 for the first time for his Charleston with partner Nancy Xu.
Find out who is next to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday at 7.20pm on BBC One.
