Furious Strictly fans brand results a ‘fix’ as seventh star is sent home amid favouritism row

STRICTLY Come Dancing said goodbye to Shayne Ward - as he became the seventh celebrity to be axed.

The former X Factor star, 40, went up against GoCompare star Wynne Evans and Katya Jones during Sunday's results show.

Both couples performed their routines again, with Shayne and Nancy Xu dancing their rumba to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper.

Then, Wynne and Katya performed their American smooth to Grace Kelly by Mika.

After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts.

Both Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse chose to save Shayne and Nancy.

But Anton Du Beke opted for Wynne and Katya.

With two votes in favour of Shayne and Nancy, the decision came down to Head Judge Shirley Ballas, who decided to save Wynne and Katya.

As Head Judge, Shirley’s was the deciding vote, meaning that Shayne and Nancy would be leaving the competition.

When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, an emotional Shayne said: “I just want to say, you guys up there [the other contestants in the Clauditorium] are a dream.

"Every single day, coming in here and seeing you guys you helped me so much.

"I want to say thank you to the audience as well, for always being amazing for us all.

"This has been, honestly, one of the best things I've ever done.”

He added: “I'm proud that I made it to eight weeks as a novice dancer.

"A massive thank you goes to this incredible human right next to me [Nancy], who has put so much fire in me and made me believe that I can actually achieve more if I let myself go.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out to the end, but I'm super proud that I got to meet you [to Nancy] and dance with you, so thank you.”

Pro dancer Nancy also praised her partnership with the former Coronation Street star and said he should be "proud" of himself.

Nancy said: “I'm beyond proud of this dance partnership. Shayne from week one until this point, every second you put your feet on the dancefloor you improved yourself.

"You're a deep thinker, you always doubt yourself, you never believed yourself, but I never ever questioned you.

"When I watch you, I feel proud because I've turned someone who has never ever danced in their life into an amazing dancer. You should believe in yourself. I adored this partnership.”

But some fans were not happy with the decision and called it a "fix".

One wrote: "Why are the judges saving Wynne, he wasn't great tonight and deserved to go over Shayne."

A second echoed: "It's clearly a fix to get Wynne to the final."

A third said: "Wow Wynne saved but Shayne's gone, that's not right. Wynne was no way as near as good as Shayne."

"It's a fix fix fix, Shirley and Anton have got it wrong," a fourth added.

Last night, some fans thought Shayne was at risk after he was given the "death slot" and performed a technically difficult rumba.

One person remarked: “Dare I talk about how they’ve definitely set shayne up to fail : worst performance slot, hardest dance, sandwiched between two front runners …"

A second said: “So Shayne has both the rumba *and* the death slot. Never have I been more confused by someone's time on #Strictly. Hated by producers and viewers for reasons I'll never understand.”

While a third added: “Shayne with a rumba ... AND the death slot? oh, he'll need a miracle to escape the dance off i fear.”

They ended up getting a score of 30 for their efforts.

The rumba is widely considered to be one of the most challenging of ballroom dances because it requires a lot of body movement, hip action and close partner work, as well as a complete mastery of all the details.

The remaining eight couples will take to the dancefloor next week with a special evening from the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom.