Michelle Visage Defends Controversial 'Strictly' Voguing Routine In Emotional Statement
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Featured Image Credit: BBC
RuPaul's Drag Race star Michelle Visage took to Instagram last night (Sunday, 17th November) after she became the eighth celebrity eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing after her voguing fell flat with viewers and judges.
The 51-year-old took to the Blackpool Tower's famous ballroom on Saturday night alongside her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice to perform her street and commercial routine to Madonna's hit Vogue.
The American personality faced criticism from viewers who claimed 'voguing' wasn't dancing and finished bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 32 points out of 40.
Michelle and Giovanni were then ultimately left in the bottom two with Saffron Barker, 19, and AJ Pritchard, 25, before being voted off by the judges.
In light of the criticism and her eliminated from the BBC stalwart, she shared a statement on Instagram explaining her reasons for choosing to 'Vogue', stating she wanted to "bring a part of the underground gay ballroom scene to a massive show like Strictly".
She penned: "I've learned in this life you must take big risks in order to affect change. Gio and I chose our couple's choice to Vogue to bring a part of the underground gay ballroom scene to a massive show like Strictly.
"We are so proud of the dance we did, but for me, it wasn't about judges scores. It was about shedding light on a group of people who deserve recognition and would otherwise not get it."
Paying tribute to the LGBTQIA+ community, she added: "I owe my life to the LGBTQIA+ community so as an ally, I try to bring attention to them, their love, their struggles, in any way that I am able to.
"In this instance it happened to be through dance and hear this: Voguing IS dancing."
Captioning the lengthy statement, she wrote: "Babies, friends both new and old, I can't tell you how overwhelmed I am by your responses of love and support.
"I had the time of my life and i will NEVER forget it! THANK YOU @bbc and thank you @bbcstrictly for allowing this woman to live her dancer fantasy and to give me a platform to try to teach everyone that there is more to life than the binary.
"That we ALL need to be accepted for who we are as individuals. We have one life to live, let's do it in love and not hate..... KEEP DANCING I know I will! Thank you." [sic]
She also shared several supportive messages from her fans on the social media platform, who celebrated her decision to 'Vogue' on the show.
The publication reported that Michelle was so 'devastated' that she to snubbed fans waiting outside Blackpool's ballroom and was the first contestant to head back to London.
A TV insider told them: "Michelle felt like getting voted out was the final insult after getting the sense she wasn't welcomed as much as the other stars."
"She wasn't included on the line-up for next year's Strictly Come Dancing tour - a snub she took personally.
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"She feels let down that mainstream viewers didn't get it. She had hoped to go all the way to the final," they added.
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