Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Strictly's Vito slams judges as he breaks silence on brutal Fleur East dance-off

Fleur East says the fact that she was placed in the Strictly Come Dancing bottom two this weekend came as a big shock as her dance partner slammed the judges comments

The former X-Factor star had to dance her American Smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid for a second time alongside professional Vito Coppola.

They did enough to stay for another week with Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice losing the the dreaded dance-off on an emotional night.

But Fleur broke down in tears on after landing herself in the bottom two - and she clearly wasn't expecting it.

The Hits Radio Breakfast Show host was back on the show this morning and spoke about a difficult and draining few days.

Fleur East and dance partner Vito Coppola survived the dreaded dance off (BBC/Guy Levy)

Fleur revealed what it was like when her name was called and said: "I couldn’t believe it.

"Of course, you know someone is going to be called but as soon as you hear your name it’s like ‘oh no’. There was so much technique in my dance and three terrifying lifts.

"I remember after I’d danced on Saturday I was like ‘phew, done it now, I can relax a little bit and think about the next dance’.

"But as soon as I knew I was in the bottom two I thought ‘Oh no I’ve got to do it again. I’ve got to do all those lifts again. And with added pressure!’"

The pair were speaking on the Hits Radio Breakfast Show (BBC)

She went on: "So, I was very nervous; very, very nervous. Vito just looked at me and said, ‘well you get to be Ariel again’ and it is an amazing dance to dance, so it’s really cool that

"I got to do it again and I guess that’s what I’m going to take as a positive. I’m so happy and grateful that the judges saved us as I’m not ready to stop dancing with Vito. We’re just getting started!"

Dance partner Vito had a little jab at the judges.

He said: "The comments were kind of the same as previous weeks and that’s OK because it means that we still have stuff to improve on but it’s a shame that they didn’t notice the stuff we had improved from the previous week.

The judges received a poke from the pro dancer (BBC)

"Craig asked about head shape and positioning - we improved that. They asked about footwork - we improved that, the frame was better.

"We did a super dangerous lift, that’s quite difficult to do and they didn’t notice, but it’s OK it just means we have to do more."

He continued: "The dance off was unexpected but it gave me another chance to dance with the little Fleurmaid! And I got so many messages from people saying we didn’t vote because we thought you were going to go through.

"Sometimes people think ‘they’re good, they’ll be safe’ and they don’t vote but people need to vote!’

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.