Brendan Cole, who was a professional on BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing between 2004 and 2018, has criticised the judges for being too generous with their points this week.
The dancer, 47, has argued that Coronation Street actress Ellie Leach, 22, was overmarked after becoming a “favourite in their eyes”.
Speaking to Sky Bingo, he said: “Ellie Leach has [established herself as the favourite] in the judges’ eyes, but the issue I have with it is I didn’t see it as a ten.
“I think there were little things that could have been quite a lot better. The last lift looked like she was sort of dragged around in the air if that makes sense!
Last Saturday, Ellie and her professional partner Vito Coppola wowed the judges with their American Smooth to Robbie Williams’ version of Ain’t That A Kick In The Head.
READ MORE: BBC Strictly star ‘overmarked’ for ‘awkward’ dance says Brendan Cole
Brendan went on to admit that, despite his criticism, there were many parts of the performance that he enjoyed.
“Having said that, it was a lovely number, a beautiful number, well-choreographed to a lovely piece of music, then the beautiful frock and a tail-suit,” he said.
“Everything about it had a great number written all over it. The show did a great job of making it look as perfect as a ballroom number can. The choreography was really nice as well.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Brendan also argued that West End star Layton Williams had been “slightly overmarked”, suggesting that “it wasn’t perfect and there was an awkwardness about it”.
On Saturday, Layton and pro dancer Nikita Kuzmin lit up the dance floor with their Jive to Shake Ur Body by SHY FX, T.Power and Di.
“I don’t quite get the height of the scores for either couple, but they’re both getting them and naturally the judges are loving what they are seeing,” Brendan concluded.
“I think it’s good that Layton isn’t the front-runner all the time otherwise it would be just dull, but he is clearly the best performer and dancer, you can’t take that away from him.”
Layton has previously faced criticism from some viewers for his musical theatre background and previous dance training.
Strictly Come Dancing continues this Saturday at 6.05pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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