Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has shared his thoughts on why Fleur East may have found herself in the dance-off twice.
The radio host found herself in the bottom two along with her professional dance partner Vito Coppola during the show's spooktacular Halloween special last weekend. During the show, the pair pulled out all the stops for their energetic salsa routine to Beyonce’s Break My Soul, the Manchester Evening News reports.
However, despite their lively routine, they ended up under the dreaded red light of dance-off doom alongside EastEnders star James Bye and his professional partner Amy Dowden. Although Fleur and her partner were saved from going home, the pair will be hoping to avoid being in the bottom two this week.
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And now Craig, who won praise from viewers for dressing up as Morticia Addams on Saturday night, has shared his thoughts while speaking to Janette Manrara on BBC2's It Takes Two on Thursday night. He said: "You have to remember that it is a popularity contest as much as it is about dancing. So you do have to canvas for votes. How you do that is up to you.
"You do have to win the hearts and minds of the nation as well. She's a lovely dancer, and let's not forget, other people like Alesha Dixon was in the bottom two for three weeks and went on to win it. And Alesha went on to judge it."
But some viewers didn't appear to agree with Craig's remarks. @RyanGSoapKing11 tweeted: "No Craig it's not a popularity contest - this isn't love island mate. This is a "Entertainment/ Dance contest" #Strictly #ItTakesTwo." @DeafinitelyMars added: "Craig coming with cold hard thruts here. It’s always been half a popularity contest, half a dance contest. How many bad dancers outstayed their welcome bc they were popular? #ItTakesTwo."
However, his comments echo those made by former Strictly contestant Dan Walker earlier this week. He told the Mirror: "Well, it's not a dance competition is it? It's half a popularity contest, it's an entertainment show and it doesn't matter how good you are on the dance floor, you've got to connect with the audience."
The former BBC Breakfast host added: "Look at how Tony [Adams] and Katya [Jones] have done - he's just been fantastic and I think he's got a few more weeks in him. It's just entertainment."
But Fleur and Vito have been hit by controversy this week after it was revealed that the pair were able to restart their dance-off performance which aired on Sunday night but was prerecorded following the main show on Saturday. Reports claimed that the couple got a second chance at performing the routine after a spectacular fall, causing everybody in the studio to let out a loud gasp in shock.
The BBC has since said the restart had been permitted because the pair had "not begun to dance" before the incident occurred. In a statement, via the PA news agency, a BBC spokesperson said the show had been stopped "as a matter of urgency".
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