The Strictly Come Dancing judge slammed critics of the BBC show and insisted it would be ‘boring’ without dancers like Amber Davies after a shock dance-off saw a fan favourite go home
Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has slammed critics of the BBC show and raced to the defence of Amber Davies after a shocking dance-off sent a fan favourite home. Fans of the show lashed out at the judges for unanimously saving Amber Davies over Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink during Sunday’s (26 October) dance-off.
They criticised the musical theatre star for being on the show despite her years of dance experience and were furious that she had been saved over Jimmy, who had performed well and was a beginner. Hitting back at those fans, Shirley told the press that it wasn’t the judges fault that Jimmy went home.
She blamed audiences for not voting for either celebrity, causing them to end up battling it out for the final spot in next week’s show.
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“It was a shock,” she admitted to the Daily Mail. “But you made that happen, not us.” That same night, she rose to the defence of Amber and insisted Strictly would be “boring” without trained dancers.
She told Wimbedon BookFest: “If you put 15 celebrities all of the same level that cannot walk, it would be boring for some people.”
This comes shortly after Amber herself defended her Strictly appearance by telling This Morning that even though she has dance experience, ballroom and latin are still new and “even just walking” is difficult.
“I do understand where [critics] are coming from, because I can perform,” she said. “But there’s a great example. Yesterday we were doing our American Smooth, and even just waking left, right, left, right, brought me to tears.”
Shirley added that she thinks producers try to “balance” the talent so that viewers can see someone learn to dance from scratch and someone else learn to dance ballroom and latin with experience in an entirely different dance style. She emphasised that learning to dance some of the Strictly styles was difficult regardless of prior experience.
Amber was in the bottom two at this week’s results show after finishing second on the leaderboard for her Cha Cha to Break Free by Ariana Grande. Jimmy was also in the dance-off despite coming fourth for his American Smooth to Prince’s Purple Rain.
How high the two had scored meant fans were shocked by who ended up in the dance-off. Ultimately, Jimmy and his partner, Lauren Oakley, were eliminated.
Fans flocked to social media to share their fury. One wrote: “So a footballer against a West End performer and they save the West End performer. So unfair, Jimmy did great and should have been saved.” Another added that Jimmy is “what Strictly is all about”.
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