Strictly viewers argue Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez were ‘robbed’ of a perfect score in Blackpool

Strictly Come Dancing viewers have taken to social media arguing that Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez were “robbed” of a perfect score on Saturday night.

The Countryfile presenter, 39, and the Spanish professional, 32, performed the ‘Quickstep’ to Valerie by Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.

The duo scored 39 out of a possible 40 from the judges for their week nine performance, after Craig Revel Horwood only gave them a nine.

However, Helen and Gorka received positive feedback from the other three judges - Anton Du Beke, Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse - who each scored them a 10.

Moti Mabuse described their dance as the “best Quickstep ever”, saying : "It was everything I asked for. It had a 10 in every element of that dance. It was the best Quickstep ever."

Anton, who was a professional dancer on Strictly for 18 series, said: "We come to Blackpool for that very reason, the reaction from the crowd. You were amazing. Your footwork was exceptional.”

Head judge Shirley Ballas added: "Helen, how you have grown is beyond me. You have left me speechless. It was absolutely superb."

Helen and Gorka were one place behind singer Fleur East and her professional partner Vito Coppola on the leaderboard, after they achieved the first perfect score of the series for their couple’s choice dance to Destiny’s Child Megamix.

One Strictly Come Dancing fan took to Twitter claiming that Helen and Gorka deserved to be “at the top of the leaderboard” whilst encouraging his followers to vote.

Another BBC viewer agreed that Fleur’s performance didn’t deserve a higher score than Helen’s, as it didn’t have “enough content”.

A third Twitter user gave a full rundown of their opinion, which included that Helen was “robbed” over the likes of Fleur.

Another fan congratulated the pair for making it through to week ten, but also felt the pair “were robbed of that perfect 40”.

Sunday night’s results show saw radio DJ Tyler West and his partner Dianne Buswell eliminated, after their dance off against singer Molly Rainford and her partner Carlos Gu.