Yes, the fan votes count in determining who stays and who goes.
If ALL of Marie’s family and all their friends vote for her, that’s a lot of votes right there.She and her family were on Oprah a couple of weeks ago. (all 100 of them).
I like both Marie and Mel as dancers BUT they have both had extensive experience with dance. Marie has been dancing since she was a little girl. Some of the old film of Donnie and Marie had elaborate dance numbers. And the Spice Girls probably also had dance numbers in their shows.
As far as I know, Helio started from scratch in his dance, for this show. He has been a favorite race car driver around here for several years. He is always on the TV and radio news, during race month, because he is always so amiable and upbeat. The local sports commentators love him. Some of those drivers are real jerks to the media (Tony Stewart).
So even though, I like both Marie and Mel, I really hope Helio wins this.