Strictly Come Dancing alum James Jordan has sparked yet another “fix” row for the show, after claiming the judges pre-plan the scores they give.
James was a professional dancer on the show for seven years and still gets involved with it on social media now, sharing his opinions. And one of his latest thoughts could prove to be quite controversial – which would be quite on brand for him.
He suggested that some of the scores that the judges give to the celebrities are decided ahead of time. The 45-year-old went as far as saying the panel “don’t know what to do” when something happens to change the apparent pre-determined scores.
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Former Dancing On Ice star James posted on X: “It’s almost like the judges watch the rehearsals – decide their scores – but when things go wrong they don’t know what to do.” He didn’t stop there though.
(Image: PA)
Last weekend, host Claudia Winkleman told West End star Layton Williams that he and his pro partner Nikita Kuzmin had made Strictly history. They scored a whopping 39, just one point off a full scoreboard, for their Salsa.
James posted: “How did Claudia know that statistic so quickly? Have never had a 39 in 13 years in Week 5. She really has a great memory!”
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)
The dancer, who is married to his former co-star Ola Jordan, has history in calling out Strictly, though. Earlier this year, he said celebrities needed some dance experience otherwise it was pointless them going on the show.
His comments came after backlash from viewers, who suggested the likes of Layton and also Angela Scanlon had an unfair advantage as they had history with dancing, albeit not ballroom. James branded Layton a “fully trained, professional dancer”.
(Image: BBC)
He added to Hello magazine: “When they came out, you had essentially two professional dancers next to each other. Let’s not say, ‘Oh, it’s because he’s really talented and has worked really hard,’ because that kind of belittles our dancing world that someone can come out and be that good after a week’s training. You can’t.”
James did have some praise for Layton though – disguised as a back-handed compliment. He added: “It was probably one of my favourite dances I’ve ever seen on the show – but that’s only because he’s a professional dancer.”
(Image: BBC)
However James has placed the blame on bosses, who make the casting decisions. He added: “I would actually say to anyone thinking of doing Strictly, ‘Don’t do Strictly unless you’re dance trained in some shape or form because you don’t have a chance.'”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
