Defeated, Balvinder Sopal hung her head and turned her back to the camera as her name was called out and her spotlight turned to red.

But this was nothing new for the EastEnders actress; another week on Strictly Come Dancing and another battle to save her place on the show by competing in the dance-off.

A skilled dancer, Balvinder pulled out all the stops for her jive with partner Julian Caillon, going head-to-head with Alex Kingston and, miraculously, making it through to the quarter finals.

In fact, the actress, 47, has now survived a staggering five dance-offs – the most in the 21-year-history of the BBC show – beating Ross King, Chris Robshaw, Vicky Pattison and Ellie Goldstein as well as Alex.

And while it’s an impressive feat, it lays bare the major divide between the judges and the voting public that is becoming a major sticking point for the BBC show.

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Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon (right) came out on top in the dreaded dance-off last weekend going head-to-head with Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe (left)

It lays bare the major divide between the judges and the voting public that is becoming a major sticking point for the BBC show

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While it wouldn’t even be on air were it not for the millions of viewers who tune in every week and vote, judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel-Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke take their roles so seriously that they would never be swayed by public opinion, a source tells the Daily Mail.

‘It doesn’t matter to them whether or not a contestant is connecting with the public, all they care about is who does the best performance in that dance-off,’ said a TV insider.

‘Even if one of the most popular celebrities finds themselves in the bottom two, they refuse to bow to pressure and they will always vote off the person who gave the weakest performance.

‘In this way, the judges and the viewers are most definitely not on the same page.’

And last week it was ER actress and fan favourite Alex, 62, who found herself in the dance-off for the first time after a series of mistakes in her routine during Saturday night’s show.

She’d had a sterling run up until then, her theatricality and warm personality making her a hit with viewers, and was expected to go all the way to the final.

But, sticking to their guns and judging simply on technical ability, the judges had no choice but to save Balvinder yet again, with Alex sent home.

While Alex was quite obviously the weaker of the pair last weekend and the right person to leave the competition, many viewers lamented her loss due to one bad week.

Balvinder has now survived a staggering five dance-offs – the most in the 21-year-history of the BBC show

Balvinder and Julian took part in their fifth dance-off last weekend

Balvinder, a self-confessed superfan of the show, is clearly aware that something about her Strictly journey is not resonating with viewers.

In an Instagram post shared after last week’s dance-off, she highlighted the fact that she doesn’t have much of a public profile and is known only to EastEnders viewers.

She also suggested that not having interviews in the ‘Clauditorium’ – the area in which Claudia Winkelman interviews those who don’t have to compete in the dance-off – meant she was missing out on a crucial way to convey her personality.

The fact that Julian is one of this year’s new professionals, also means that they are at a disadvantage, as he doesn’t have the same support as some of the show’s more established dancers.

‘Thank you for all your votes,’ Balvinder wrote.

‘I know we’ve ended up in the dance off five times, been saved (thankfully), come back fighting, and set a new record in the process… but your investment in us means more than anything in the world.’

She added: ‘I also know that unless you know me from EastEnders you know very little about me, and you know even less about my partnership with Julian because we haven’t been in the Clauditorium much, where you can see a little bit more of us, hear about our Strictly journey and catch our vibe.

‘But we hope you can feel our energy, connect, see who we are and what we represent through our dances which are filled with passion and story.’

Balvinder, a self-confessed superfan of the show, is clearly aware that something about her Strictly journey is not resonating with viewers (the pair in week seven)

Despite being saved by the judges five times, they don’t tend to give her rave reviews or high scores, which could also be contributing to her lack of votes.

‘I’m trying to get my head around it,’ she said on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two last month.

‘If you can see improvement that warrants a little bit of a better score than we got last week, so I don’t know where exactly the judges sit and what exactly they’re looking for.’

This isn’t the first year that contestants have been saved in multiple dance-offs – highlighting the disconnect between the judging panel and voters.

In 2015 pop star Jamelia landed in five dance-offs and was sent home after her fifth.

In 2020, former Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing survived four dance-offs, and even made it to the final after Ranvir Singh was sent home over him.

Balvinder first found herself in the dance-off in week three of this year’s competition, when she went up against showbiz reporter Ross.

Vicky Pattison and Kai Widdrington (right) were eliminated in week eight after facing off against Balvinder and Julian

She was a shock inclusion as there were, at that point, many couples who were noticeably weaker.

A week later she found herself in the bottom two again and had to compete against rugby player Chris. She got a pass on week five, when Amber Davies found herself in the dance-off opposite Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

The following week she was back in the bottom two, dancing against Ellie. She had another reprieve in week seven, but was back in the dance-off in week eight.

Thanks to La Voix being forced to pull out in week nine after suffering an injury, there was no dance-off in Blackpool, but last weekend saw her back there again.

It might not be looking good for her as this weekend’s show approaches, but as much as it is about popularity, Strictly is also about dancing ability – and Balvinder has that in droves.