STRICTLY viewers are convinced Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse will be the next couple to succumb to the curse after the actor was spotted rubbing his partner’s hip.
Kelvin, 35, was caught stroking Oti as they waited nervously for the results during last night’s elimination episode.
The moment, which occurred moments before Viscountess Emma Weymouth and Aljaz Skorjanec were announced for the bottom two, caused a stir with fans, who hinted at a potential romance.
A viewer wrote on Twitter: “@bbcstrictly is it just me who noticed kelvin stroking oti’s hip with his finger? ! She is stunning! Hope he’s single x”.
Another said: “KELVIN, I see that thumb.#Strictlycurse #Strictly.”
A third commented: “I think we know which couple is going to be struck by the strictly curse… Oti and Kevin are [fire emojis].”
A fourth fan observed: “Kelvin and Oti are such a perfect match.#Strictly”.
The couple bagged an impressive 36 points for their saucy Rumba to Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers.
The sexy performance no doubt left the judging panel hot under the collar, with Craig Revel Horwood calling it “filth”.
While Motsi, Oti’s sister, commented: “Hold on Kelvin, that’s my sister, stop it!”
Kelvin, who’s married to actress Liz Marsland, has previously revealed how he wants viewers to think he’s in love with dance partner Oti.
According to the former Emmerdale star, a big part of the BBC1 show is to keep people guessing who’s bedding who.
He said: “Why else do we watch Strictly? You’ve got these people and they have to look so majestic and beautiful and endearing and the story looks like, ‘Oh there’s something going on there’.
“Two strangers spend ten hours a day together, connected by the hip, naturally touching and very close — nose to nose. There’s a lot of signals there of what people will be looking at.
“If you’ve not bought into it then there’s something missing. So I absolutely expect, and I hope, that people watch me and Oti and see whatever narrative it is — whether that be that we’re in love — I want people to believe it.”
Meanwhile, South African dancer Oti, 29, has previously admitted her husband Marius Lepure enforces a “no unnecessary touching rule” to stop the Strictly curse in its tracks.
Appearing on Loose Women in August, she said: “So he is like a real macho man, he talks like this (deep voice) with an east European accent and he’s always like, ‘just don’t touch my wife unless you have to. Unless you reeeeally have to. Just don’t.’
“And then he gives them this really firm handshake like, ‘I’m watching, I see what you’re doing’.
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“It’s sexy! You’re standing there and your man is like threatening your dance partner. You’re like, ‘yes baby!'”
Marius even gave Oti’s 2018 partner, Greame Swann, the special treatment after he presented her with a bouquet of flowers.
She added: “Out of nowhere my husband came over and took these flowers out of my hands and said, ‘she’s allergic to flowers.'”
The couple tied the knot in 2014.
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