‘Strictly Come Dancing’ pro Brendan Cole is standing his ground following his row with judge Shirley Ballas over the weekend.
On Saturday (7 October), Brendan and Shirley clashed when she suggested his Tango routine with celebrity partner Charlotte Hawkins had included too much “rise and fall”.
When a defiant Brendan insisted this was not the case, Shirley then urged him to watch the tape back, with fellow judge Bruno Tonioli stepping in to warn him: “Be more respectful.”
Following the row, Brendan appeared with Charlotte on Monday (9 October) morning’s ‘Good Morning Britain’, insisting: “I’ve watched the tape back, I’ve seen it, there is no rise and fall in it.
“You could argue with anybody. You could say Aston [Merrygold] didn’t do a proper Cha Cha – he did an amazing Cha Cha.
“What Charlotte did on Saturday was a phenomenal dance compared to what we’ve done before, and given the fact that she’s not one of the [ones] from ‘X Factor’...”
However, despite standing his ground on this particular matter, Brendan has vowed to “take a step back” when it comes to arguing his point with the judges.
He admitted he was concerned Charlotte could lose out due to his “mouthy” nature, adding: “It’s about Charlotte and we need to make it about Charlotte.”
Prior to their latest clash, the New Zealand-born dancer had already hit out at Shirley once over her critiques in the live shows, telling ‘It Takes Two’ presenter Zoe Ball: “If Shirley wants to swap places with me, I’m quite happy to judge and her to do that.”