Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon have survived five Strictly Come Dancing dance offs (Image: BBC)

The first time EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal found herself in the Strictly Come Dancing bottom two, I was aghast. “She is a queen,” I protested to friends and colleagues. “How can they do this to her?” She wasn’t even close to one of the worst dancers on the show. I interviewed her later that week and told her as much. At the time, she was still somewhat rattled but pragmatic about finding herself in the dreaded dance-off. It did feel very unfair, as she was a far better dancer than the others who had escaped their fate.

However, since then, she has found herself in the bottom two four more times and survived – a record for the show. The judges opt to keep saving her, and at this stage, the only reason that makes sense is that they want to see her in the final to balance out the “experienced” dancers. Appearing on Strictly has been a dream of the star for years. For her, I’m sure making the final would be an absolute fairytale. But it shouldn’t be at the expense of better dancers.

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While Balvinder has come on leaps and bounds, and I am genuinely a fan of her journey on the show, she can’t compare to the likes of Amber Davies and Lewis Cope – both of whom have musical theatre backgrounds and seem almost certain to make the final.

YouTuber George Clarke has also proven somewhat of a dark horse, displaying impressive skills on the dance floor. Former footballer Karen Carney has also been a revelation with her routines. It was little surprise when it transpired she did have some previous dance experience, and despite some weaker routines, she has been consistently good.

While George and Karen are both deserving of a place in the final alongside Amber and Lewis, it is looking increasingly likely that Balvinder will actually pip them to the post. It would balance out the more experienced people and would, obviously, also make great television, given her trials and tribulations on the show. Call me cynical, but I’m also sure it won’t do EastEnders viewing figures any harm.

None of this is a good enough reason to continue putting her through this. Out of the five dance-offs, she has twice been saved over others who were exponentially better than her.

Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe lost the dance against Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon (Image: BBC)

The first three times she found herself in the dance-off, she definitely deserved to be saved. She was head and shoulders above Ross King on October 12. She danced rings around Chris Robshaw on October 19. And while I was sad to see the delightful Ellie Goldstein leave on November 2, Balvinder and Julian gave a better performance.

However, on November 16, she was put through over Vicky Pattison. The I’m A Celebrity winner, who was a consistently better dancer than Balvinder and had topped the leaderboard on one occasion, struggled in the dance off, hence the judges’ marks. This was a surprise, but since it is supposed to be judged solely on the dance off and not overall performance, I could concede it was fair enough.

However, this weekend saw Balvinder and her professional partner, Julian Caillon, face off against Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe. To my surprise, most of the judges, except Anton Du Beke, opted to save Balvinder. While I appreciate that this wasn’t Alex’s strongest week, personally, I felt she was better than Balvinder in this moment. Yes, she struggled a bit during the Saturday show, but the vote is supposed to be based solely on the dance off and nothing else. By saving Balvinder, they have contradicted their previous claims.

The judges definitely seem to have taken a shine to Balvinder, but they risk losing credibility if they continue to save her. There is literally no one left in the competition that she should win a dance-off against. Despite this, it wouldn’t surprise me to see her in the final.