Rachel in the dance off this week but saved by judges

On Saturday night Rachel and her partner Vincent performed an American Smooth. The judges awarded her a total of 35 points out of a possible 40 points. This put her in fourth place again, behind three other couples who all scored 36 points each.

Craig felt that "normally we see this as a foxtrot based dance - so I loved the fact you used this... so we got to see Rachel animated and you went up into a lovely lift." Arlene said "it was bright, lively, tricky footwork, so why wasn't it perfect for me? You don't use your eyes... you look gorgeous, but you need to find a story through your eyes." Len added "diamonds come in small packages and that was a gem of a performance." And Bruno said "it was Fred and Ginger for me tonight, so elaborate and demanding... you did that effortlessly."

Inspite of having the second highest score, the public were not backing Rachel this week. With the judges scores and the public votes added together, Rachel was one of the bottom two couples. That meant that she faced the dance off against Heather Small and her partner Brian. Fortunately all the judges chose to keep Rachel in the competition and unanimously voted for Heather to leave.

All the judges made it clear they were not happy that Rachel was in the dance off this week. Judge Craig said: "I think it's an absolute travesty that these two couples were in the bottom two and it proves that absolutely nobody is safe." Judge Bruno said: "I do understand that we do this show for the public but this is like being in the Twilight Zone." He was furious that better dancers got the lower votes from the public when contestant John Sargent scored just 12 points this week: "I'm spitting feathers. I'm appalled and disgusted. I don't understand it. It's a dancing competition."

So the judges are supporting Rachel, but the public aren't. If you are a fan of Rachel and want to see her keep seeing her on TV every day, please vote for her on Saturday night.