‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professional Brendan Cole was warned to “be respectful” during last night’s (7 October) live show, after clashing with Head Judge Shirley Ballas.
Brendan became rather defensive as the judges critiqued his and celebrity partner Charlotte Hawkins’ Tango, which was set to ‘Danger Zone’ from ‘Top Gear’ as part of the night’s Movies Week theme.
Things got off to an awkward start when Shirley remarked their performance had been “a little bit better” than their previous effort, with Brendan suggesting that “a little bit” may have been an undersell.
During her critiques, she then warned Charlotte there’d been too much “rise and fall”, which isn’t a traditional feature in Tango routines, to which Brendan responded: “There was no rise and fall.”
Shirley then advised him to “play [the routine] back”, with Brendan assuring her: “I will, my dear.”
As tension between the two became more apparent, it was fellow judge Bruno Tonioli’s turn to speak, telling Brendan: “There are still too many mistakes.
“I’m not an expert or anything, I’ve only done around 500 shows, but [Shirley] is right. You should be more respectful.”
In the end, Brendan and Charlotte walked away with 17 points of a possible 40, an improvement of five from last week.
The New Zealand-born dancer has already hit out at Shirley once over her critiques in last week’s live show, 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.”
Prior to Shirley Ballas’s appointment as Head Judge, it was widely reported that both Brendan and fellow professional Anton Du Beke had been in talks for the job, with the former admitting he’d be keen to join the panel.
Find out if Charlotte and Brendan can avoid the bottom two once again in tonight’s (8 October) ‘Strictly’ results show, kicking off at 7.15pm on BBC One.