Strictly fans think Stacey Dooley was favoured over fellow injured contestant Kate Silverton

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Meanwhile, both Stacey Dooley and Kate Silverton suffered from bruised ribs during their rigorous training sessions with their partners.

But despite the apparent similarity of their injuries, some Strictly viewers believe Dooley received “special treatment”, with her pre-dance video tape focusing heavily on her ailment while newsreader Silverton, 48, who had “muscle stripped from the bone” only had her injury mentioned after her dance.

Her Argentine Tango with partner Aljaz Skorjanec was blasted by the judges for being “laboured” – scoring a dismal 23 out of 40, second to bottom on the leaderboard.

But 30-year-old documentary maker Dooley, who danced her Street and Commercial Couples’ Choice with Kevin Clifton, received high praise for her performance to Alicia Keyes Empire State of Mind.

Awarded 36 for her dance, Dooley was third on the leaderboard on Saturday’s show, sailing through for another week.

But some Strictly fans thought it was unfair that Silverton received such harsh marking – particularly as she had an injury that they felt had been downplayed compared to Dooley’s – and took to Twitter to voice their concerns.

“Not sure about this..Kate has had to have injections because of a detached muscle from her ribs, is in constant pain and it’s only mentioned briefly in passing, yet Stacey’s injury is heavily featured in her VT?” observed one fan.

Another added, “I’m not trying to say they are trying to influence the scores/voting but ... so nice of #Strictly to hammer home about Stacey’s injuries but hardly mention Kate’s.”

A third said, “Hang on - why is Stacey’s injury talked about in the VT but nothing is made of Kate’s actual injury in hers?”

Earlier in the week, Silverton shared videos of herself on laughing gas to cope with the pain of her rib injury.

Meanwhile, Dooley shared a snap in a hospital bed on Instagram.

Despite some viewers’ concerns, both Dooley and Silverton made it through to next week’s live shows.

The dance-off was between Casualty star Charles Venn and actual Dr Ranj Singh, with Dr Ranj eventually voted out.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 7pm on BBC1

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