Lauren Oakley fiercely defended by BBC Strictly fans as judges praise Amy Dowden for JB Gill routine despite exit

Oakley and Gill had already set the bar high for themselves after the former stepped in for Dowden in Week Seven when she was initially drafted in as a temporary replacement, taking on a Couple's Choice that bagged the JLS star's best score of the series.

A foot injury ended Dowden's journey permanently this week, with the Welsh professional dancer rubbishing speculation that her exit was down to other health concerns after she collapsed backstage two weeks ago.

Both Gill and Oakley vowed to do Dowden proud after her exit and the Welsh pro has promised to continue supporting Gill from the sidelines, something head judges Ballas was keen to mention after their Week Eight Samba.

Ballas was last up to deliver her verdict after Anton Du Beke kicked off the feedback: "Anybody who says I'm really enjoying learning the Samba is frankly weird...

"I am stunned! Stunned!" Du Beke said as he took a more serious tone. "Last week you did your Couple's Choice and I said bring this going forward... Man alive, did you bring it!"

Craig Revel Horwood was similarly impressed: "JB - that means to me Jolly Brilliant!"

Motsi Mabuse echoed: "JB for me there is a king of Sambas on Strictly, Kelvin [Fletcher], Danny Mac... The best Samba! Smooth, rhythmical, I absolutely loved everything about it."

Ballas was also keen to praise the duo but her remarks came with a caveat: "That performance says to me I'm in it to win it and I'm not going anywhere, that's what that performance said.

"But I do want to say one thing, all these weeks, all these fundamentals - your feet, your leg actions, your body - that you've learned from Amy, she set you up for this kind of performance.

"Lauren you dance fantastic together as a team but you couldn't have done it without all those weeks of work. So a huge congratulations to all of you."

Gill and Oakley appeared in agreement with Ballas' comments, nodding their heads and clapping the sentiment before they made their way to hear their scores.

However, several fans at home felt the decision to laud Dowden after Oakley pulled off the impressive routine despite being drafted in as a last-minute replacement wasn't the fairest on the 33-year-old.

"Did Shirley really have to take the shine off Lauren’s glory? No need to mention Amy AGAIN," one X user hit out. "The samba this week was all JB & Lauren’s work #Strictly."

"Exactly!!" a second user replied before a third typed elsewhere: "I know they got 10s last week but it was someone else’s choreo, it was JB’s moment, it was doing it for Amy (who’s given JB so much skill ofc). But I’m SO incredibly proud of Lauren for not only nines but a TEN for her choreo and teaching #strictly."

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A fourth slammed the fact Oakley was benched in the first place: "Just shows what a poor decision it was to start this series without giving Lauren a partner from the beginning. She is definitely one of the best dancers & choreographers. #Strictly."

Meanwhile, a fifth weighed in: "I love Amy but to me their partnership lacked Chemistry JB & Lauren are on another level together #strictly."

However, while some fans rushed to defend Oakley, others praised Ballas for giving Dowden credit.

"Shirley praising amy in her feedback to jb, as well as mentioning lauren... it’s so so important that all of the teaching amy did with jb isn’t forgotten #Strictly," one fan argued before a second weighed in: "#Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing Well Done Shirley, for mentioning Amy; although Lauren's bought a different dynamic to JB." (sic)

Oakley and Gill ended up topping the leaderboard at the end of the evening with a score of 37, joint with Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec.