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IT'S PAUL OVER
Debbie McGee stuns as Ginger Spice on Strictly Come Dancing but viewers slam Shirley Ballas for ‘over marking’ her samba
SHIRLEY Ballas has been blasted by Strictly Come Dancing viewers for 'over marking' Debbie McGee on tonight's Blackpool special.
The star took to the dance floor dressed as Ginger Spice to perform a samba to a Spice Girls medley with her partner Giovanni Pernice, complete with her own version of the iconic Union Jack dress and a ginger wig to look like Geri Horner.
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Her efforts - which included the splits - impressed the judges, particularly head judge Shirley and Bruno Tonioli who gave her two nines and a total score of 33.
But the move angered many fans, who felt the panel were showing clear favouritism towards Debbie, and over marking what they felt was an average routine.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: "No way was Debbie's dance a 9", while another added: "Debbie overmarked and Mollie undermarked again, Shirley especially so bias towards her Debbie, no where near a 9."
A third agreed, writing: "I like Debbie, I do.... BUT 9's for that is absolute BS! STOP with this over scoring already, it is so blatant this series who the judges favourites are."
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They weren't alone in their view, as another tweeted: "Debbie's dance was nowhere near a 9. Ridiculous."
A fellow viewer added: "Think Debbie could come out and just stand there and Shirley would give her a 9, for her fantastic line, absolute joke now."
A third echoed their sentiments, writing: "Debbie could be crawling on the floor and the judges would still give her a 10. I don't like the favouritism, makes the competition pointless."
Shirley and the judges have been slammed for their marking on a number of occasions during the series, but the head judge hasn't been afraid to hit back, especially after being criticised for casting the deciding vote in letting Aston Merrygold go home two weeks ago.
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She told the : “I judge with no fear or favour, but it has been a very tough week and I really don’t like to see somebody go home.
“But I entirely stand by my decision and that will never change. Don’t anyone tell me how to do my job – I’ve been doing this since I was 16.”
She continued, pinning the fault on the viewers for not picking up the phone, saying: “The BBC has very clear rules: you have to judge on that performance, not past ones – and Mollie was the best dancer."
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