Strictly Come Dancing viewers praised professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin after he spoke out following his routine with Paralympic athlete Ellie Simmonds .
On Saturday’s episode of the BBC competition, which saw the stars take to the dance floor for Movie Week, some fans complained that head judge Shirley Ballas was too critical of comedian Ellie Taylor’s routine. Host Tess Daly even called out Shirley’s comments as “very strict”, while some viewers accused the judge of being “biased”.
Before giving Ellie Taylor five points, Shirley told her as she smacked her hand on the table emphatically: “No heel leads. We are going into week three. You did a natural top, and the first step of every step was a heel lead. So as from today, I’m not accepting - and that goes for everybody else - I am not accepting any heel leads.”
READ MORE: Strictly fans spot 'dig' at axed judge as 'shade is thrown' during opening song
When it was Ellie Simmonds’ turn to dance later in the show, Shirley admitted that the swimming champion needed to “work on footwork”, but nonetheless awarded her seven points. As Ellie S and Nikita spoke to host Claudia Winkleman to share their reaction to the scores, Nikita made a comment that sparked a reaction on social media, BirminghamLive reports.
He said: “I’m just a little bit confused, because Shirley said previously to Ellie T that everything must be a point [with feet], so [Ellie S] thought - oh, for ballroom as well?” The fellow dancers laughed as Nikita added: “But it’s heel [first] in ballroom. So we got a bit confused there.”
Nikita appeared to suggest that Shirley’s earlier comment had left Ellie S confused about her footwork as heel leads are allowed in ballroom, but not Latin. However, some viewers thought that Nikita’s comment was a dig at Shirley’s overly harsh judgement of Ellie T’s performance, or at least pointing out that her remarks were confusing for the other dancers.
Taking to Twitter to praise Nikita, one viewer wrote: “Not Nikita calling out Shirley on her criticism of heel leads from Ellie Taylor and praise of them for Ellie Simmonds, I am deceased.”
“Nikita calling Shirley out, I’m loving this,” another fan tweeted.
“Still not over Nikita calling out Shirley’s judging,” added a third. “Waited years for that, thank you Nikita.”
A fourth viewer declared: “Nikita calling Shirley out may be my favourite part of the night so far.”
Another couple will be eliminated from the competition when tonight’s results show sees the bottom two pairs take part in the dance-off. With spoilers leaking online due to the results show having been filmed yesterday, many fans have said they are “gutted” and “outraged” after finding out which couple have been voted off.
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