Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystał exit Strictly after new three-way dance-off
The couple received 26 points in a format change that forced three pairs to perform again, with the judges voting unanimously to eliminate them.
By Tunde Bailey ·
Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystał have been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing, becoming the fifth couple to leave the competition. The exit followed a new format twist that forced three pairs into a dance-off on the most recent results show.
The show introduced a three-way challenge for the first time, moving away from the standard head-to-head format. Lawrence, 34, and Jowita, 32, faced Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, as well as Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu. All three couples re-performed their original routines for the judges.
Lawrence and Jowita performed a Tango to Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr. They scored 26 points out of a possible 40. Bethany and Nancy received 30 points for their Jive, while Jaime and Carlos earned 27 points for their Salsa.
The judges were required to vote for the couple they wanted to eliminate rather than the pair they wished to save. Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, and Anton Du Beke all voted to remove Lawrence and Jowita from the competition. Motsi Mabuse, who held the deciding vote, stated she would have also voted to eliminate the couple if her vote had been necessary.
Lawrence and Jowita were the lowest-scoring pair of the three in the dance-off. On the general leaderboard, they placed second from the bottom, ahead only of Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley, and Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita. The elimination concluded the Halloween-themed episode, which featured a group routine by the professionals to Dracula by Tame Impala.
The episode included a vocal cameo from Sir Ian McKellen, who recorded an extract from Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the climax of the professional dance. The routine was led by Alexis Warr and Nikita Kuzmin. The show also featured music from Becky Hill, performed by new professionals Aleksandra Isaeva and Cristian Priori.
Viewers on social media expressed mixed reactions to the outcome. Some users described the elimination as unfair, noting that Lawrence was only in his first dance-off. Others argued that Jaime Winstone, who has been in multiple previous challenges, had reached a plateau in his performance. The three-way format is a one-time change, and the show will return to its standard structure next weekend.
