Strictly's biggest shock yet: seven theories why Aston Merrygold was sent home

Remember, remember, the fifth of November. Not because it was Bonfire Night but because it marked the date of arguably Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest ever shock result: the surprise early elimination of Aston Merrygold. Ballroom fireworks indeed. 

Aston had been bookies’ second favourite to lift the glitterball trophy and his odds of elimination were 100-1 going into this weekend. He’d been the highest-scoring celebrity of the series so far, having topped the leaderboard twice and never finishing lower than third. 

Yet on Sunday’s dramatic results show, it was suddenly home time for the former JLS frontman, following a narrow dance-off defeat to Mollie King. Viewers were outraged. Social media exploded. Conspiracists cried foul.

Here we outline the seven main theories about how it happened…

Bad choreography

Was it all the fault of Janette Manrara’s muddled, concept-laden routine? Bolting both a barbershop theme and Seventies disco styling onto a Viennese waltz simply didn’t work – which was the responsibility of his pro partner rather than Aston himself. Janette is a Latin champion and salsa specialist, so her strengths don’t lie in creating classical ballroom routines. 

The character of the dance got lost amid the Afro wigs, barber’s chairs and Jackson 5 soundtrack. The judges duly marked the couple harshly, leaving them second bottom on Saturday’s scoreboard – 13 points and seven places down from the previous week. Quite a fall from grace, which left them vulnerable to the dance-off – by which time it was too late to fix the routine’s many faults.

Too much dance experience

Pre-Strictly, Aston was known for his backflipping JLS moves and was even a judge on Sky1 contest Got To Dance. Cue disgruntled noises about him being a ringer, despite his insistence that he’d never done Latin or ballroom. Strictly viewers like to see progression and improvement but Aston seemed a little too good from the outset. 

Such murmurings meant he wasn’t as popular as many of the less accomplished hoofers and didn’t get enough public votes to lift him clear of the dreaded dance-off. The fact that the technically far inferior Ruth Langsford and Susan Calman are yet to appear in the dance-off speaks volumes about Aston’s lack of support.

Hyped too soon

Was Aston a victim of his own success? He looked the most comfortable celebrity during the series-opening group dance, then topped the leaderboard for two of the contest’s opening three weeks. Some believe he was over-praised and over-scored early on, which meant the only way to go was down.

Most Strictly celebs improve from week-to-week but Aston seemed to flatline. His performances were full of style and showmanship yet started to look samey. Judges increasingly picked up on his lack of flow, splayed feet, inappropriate bounce and out-of-place streetdance flourishes. As the panel became more demanding and clamped down on details, Aston’s flaws were exposed. 

Favouritism from the judges

Aston’s Viennese waltz was a long way from perfect but did it truly deserve a lowly score of four from panto villain Craig Revel Horwood – the same mark he gave to Ruth Langsford’s comedy paso doble? And did head judge Shirley Ballas use her casting vote fairly? Some viewers thought not, accusing the judges of inconsistency, partiality and having an an anti-Aston, pro-Debbie McGee agenda. More fanciful fans even claimed that Craig – who directed Alexandra Burke in stage musical Sister Act – may have been trying to eliminate one of her major threats. 

Such conjecture seems groundless and paranoid. The panel much more likely based their decision on what they saw in the dance-off. They scored Mollie King’s foxtrot two points higher than Aston’s Viennese waltz on Saturday and didn’t see enough improvement to change that on Sunday. 

Racism rumblings

It’s long been a hobby horse on social media: that Strictly voters tend not to back black contestants, meaning contestants of colour often get eliminated unjustly early. In the last two series, the first celebrity sent home has been black (Melvin Odoom and Chizzy Akudolu). The likes of Tameka Empson, Colin Salmon and Jamelia also went a few weeks earlier than perhaps they deserved. 

However, this theory holds little water. After all, Alexandra Burke and Davood Ghadami remain in the contest, the reigning champion is Ore Oduba and three more glitterball winners have been non-white (Mark Ramprakash, Alesha Dixon and Louis Smith). Sorry, race conspiracy theorists. 

Aston himself wanted to go

Another hypothesis which was gaining some social media traction on Sunday evening. Aston’s  girlfriend of five years, Sarah Lou Richards, is expecting their first child in early January. In a recent interview, Aston admitted that he’d leave the contest, live on-air if necessary, should she go into labour

Aston also has ambitious plans for his solo music career, with an album recorded and ready to go, plus tour demands from overseas markets. Being eliminated was actually pretty handy for the 29-year-old. Had the judges been tipped the wink, hence their harsh scores and dance-off decision? It seems highly unlikely but that hasn’t stopped speculation. 

He just had a shocker

Perhaps the most compelling theory of all, although admittedly not the most interesting: the Viennese waltz simply wasn’t Aston’s dance. 

In a week where other contestants suited their routines – see Debbie McGee’s sharp tango Alexandra Burke’s spicy cha cha, Davood Ghadami’s lift-packed American smooth and Joe McFadden’s cheeky Charleston– Aston was lumbered with one that didn’t fit. He lacked grace and glide, had too much attack and generally struggled. One bad week on Strictly is often all it takes.