What is the Strictly Come Dancing 2016 racism row about and how are Naga Munchetty, Tameka Empson and Melvin Odoom involved?

CLAIMS of a Strictly Come Dancing racism row have been reignited with the latest elimination of news presenter Naga Munchetty.

The petite star and her professional partner Pasha Kovalev were the third couple to be voted off the popular dancing competition - but not without some drama.

The 41-year-old follows in the footsteps of EastEnders actress Tameka Empson and presenter Melvin Odoom.

And as the third person of colour to leave the BBC show, it prompted fans to accuse the programme of racism.

One fan on Twitter accused the show of being a "whitewash".

Someone else wrote: "Is it odd that no white dancers have left yet?"

While another commented: "Haven't said it until now but how racist as the #strictly voters?"

The BBC have denied any racism on the show.

So here's exactly how Naga, Tameka and Melvin are involved.

Melvin Odoom

Melvin, 36, was the very first contestant to be booted off the competition after finding himself in the bottom two with singer Anastacia.

But unfortunately for the Kiss FM DJ, he was unable to take part in a dance off against Anastacia and her partner Brendan Cole, because of an injury Anastacia suffered during rehearsals.

The American damaged scar tissue from her 2013 double mastectomy and it was decided she was too injured to perform again.

Reverting to the public vote, Melvin and his dance partner Janette Manrara were eliminated after drawing the lowest number.

Commenting on the race row, Melvin said: "If there was a racist issue we wouldn’t be there in the first place.

"I think it’s got nothing to do with that. I think people are just trying to find a story to make out of nothing essentially."

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Tameka Empson

Things really started to kick off when in the second week, EastEnders star Tameka and her professional partner Gorka Marquez landed themselves in a dance off alongside Laura Whitmore and Giovanni Pernice.

Out of all the judges, only Darcey Bussell chose to save 39-year-old Tameka, meaning her time on the programme was up.

And this is when rumblings of a race row began.

One viewer pointed out: "Melvin went out last week and now Tameka this week, I'm starting to think half the people on this show are just plain racist."

And: "#Strictly viewers showing their racist side. First two weeks seem to be targeting the black participants."

Naga Munchetty

Naga found herself in the bottom two - against Anastacia - after performing the Charleston to ‘Minnie The Mermaid’ by Firehouse Five Plus Two.

There were mixed reactions to Naga leaving online, with one viewer simply saying: "Anastacia raised her game, but Naga didn't" and "It's a shame to see Naga go but she did make some errors."

One person summed up the drama and wrote on Twitter: "So first its Melvin, the black man. Second gone its Tameka, the black woman. And now Naga. Not saying its racist but, seriously #Strictly."

But other viewers drew attention to former Strictly winners Alesha Dixon and Louis Smith, while one called the ‘racism argument’ “pathetic”.

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