‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professional Brendan Cole has blasted judge Bruno Tonioli, over comments he made about Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova performance earlier in the series.
During the second week of live shows, Bruno commented upon the chemistry between Davood and Nadiya, suggesting their Quickstep to ‘Last Nite’ was akin to “a race to the bedroom”.
Writing about the matter in his column for Best magazine, Brendan has suggested Bruno crossed a line with his critique, particularly as both Davood and Nadiya already have partners.
He wrote: “I didn’t approve of Bruno’s comment to Davood and Nadiya the other week.
“If it was said about two single people, like Mollie and AJ, then maybe it would have been OK – but both Davood and Nadiya have partners and children.”
Brendan went on to suggest that it was an inappropriate comment for an otherwise family-friendly show, adding: “Imagine your kid asking you what ‘race to the bedroom’ means?”
This comes after controversial former pro James Jordan made similar remarks earlier in the series, when Bruno had once again referenced the chemistry between the dancing pair.
James told The Sun: “I found it disgusting — let’s not forget this guy is a married man with two children. Bruno may have been joking but they’re joking with people’s lives here.”
Bruno isn’t the only judge Brendan has taken issue with this series, though, infamously clashing with Shirley Ballas after her critiques during the most recent live show.
Since then, Brendan has stood his ground, insisting that Shirley had been unfair when she suggested his Tango had included “too much rise and fall”, but has vowed to take a step back in the near future, so not to steal focus from his partner Charlotte Hawkins.