Strictly star Sam Quek has seemingly had her “Achilles heel” exposed ahead of the new series.
The Scouse sports star, 35, is getting ready to take to the dancefloor in the newest series of the BBC dancing competition. Despite the controversies that have surrounded the show in recent months, Sam has beamed that she is excited to get the show going.
Olympian Sam has been paired up with Ukrainian babe Nikita Kuzmin, who nearly clinched a win during last year’s show with Layton Williams. However, ahead of their first dance, some people have noted there may be a stumbling block for the couple.
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Speaking to Betfair Slingo, body language expert Darren Stanton has admitted that the broadcaster may struggle to put her nerves behind her. This could hinder her path to victory, unless she sorts out her emotions.
(Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
When asked on what he makes of Nikita and Sam’s on-screen chemistry, Darren was positive. He explained: “Sam and Nikita seem to have a good connection but I think the thing that will be her Achilles heel is her nerves.
“She’s coming over very nervous, and it will be about whether she can learn to contain that,” he added. “She touches her heart a lot when she speaks, so she is being genuine.”
Darren also said that by being open and genuine about feeling nervous, this could prove to be an issue to lifting the glitterball trophy later this year. He added that the confidence building may fall to Nikita to push her and help her break her boundaries.
(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
“Whether Nikita can help her with that will determine how far through they will go,” he explained. “It could go either way with these two, but it depends on how her levels of confidence can be contained in the next few weeks.”
It comes as the couples continue to make their final preparations for the upcoming live show on Saturday (September 21). Despite it not being competitive with scores and public votes, Darren added that Sam and Nikita have a lot of work to do to endear themselves to the public.
“I predict we could see these guys wobble and end up in the dance off around week five or six,” he clarified. “Their connection is good, but not at the level of a lot of the other couples.”
All couples are set to take to the dancefloor for the first week of the competition, which fully gets underway this weekend. It comes amid the ongoing scandals that continue to rock the show in the wake of Amanda Abbington’s participation.
(Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
The Sherlock star quit the show after five weeks in the competition, before alleging she was the victim of bullying and abuse during rehearsals. The BBC has since launched an internal probe into the show, with her partner Giovanni Pernice at the heart of the claims.
Giovanni has shot back at the claims, saying he “looks forward to clearing his name” entirely. Meanwhile, fellow Italian professional Graziano di Prima was given the boot from the show after footage emerged of him kicking, hitting and spitting at Zara McDermott during training.
Strictly Come Dancing airs every Saturday and Sunday on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
