Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Brendan Cole revealed he was pleased he was eliminated when he was partnered with singing superstar Lulu on the show.
Brendan, who left the show after 2017, has admitted that in order to get on with your dance partner, you need to have a “mutual respect” for each other. And there was only one time in his entire Strictly career that he found it extremely hard to bond with his partner.
In 2011, Brendan was partnered with singer Lulu and the pair were eliminated six weeks into the competition. But for Brendan, this was the only time he was happy to be eliminated.
Brendan Cole on what makes a great partnership on Strictly Come Dancing
Speaking exclusively to ED!, Brendan admitted that “trust” and “respect” were the key elements to making a strong Strictly partnership.
He told us: “Your job as a professional is to essentially mould this person into the person that you think they should be on the screen. And if you don’t gel then they’re not going to listen to you.”
But even when Brendan hasn’t necessarily bonded closely with his partners, he usually wanted to stay in the show because of the competitive streak.
Brendan said: “You are a professional. You consider yourself to be very good at what you do, and good enough to get through week by week because of your own ability to create something that people want to watch. Even if your partner is rubbish, you should be able to get through a few weeksiminated’ because of your ability to succeed.”
He admitted: “Even when you don’t want to be there with them, and you’re relieved it’s over, there’s still the realisation that you’re not in the show any more. So you do still feel that bit of failure.”
However, there was one occasion Brendan was “absolutely delighted” to be eliminated. And that was when he was paired with Lulu.
Brendan and Lulu ‘did not gel’
He admitted: “There was one year I was absolutely delighted because I couldn’t even be in the same room as my celebrity partner.
“It was Lulu. We did not gel. We did not see eye to eye at all.”
As for why he and Lulu found it difficult to bond, Brendan admitted he didn’t like the way she behaved. He added that she probably felt the same way about him.
He said: “I didn’t like the way she behaved and she probably didn’t like the way I behaved. I’m not a saint. The relationship just didn’t work and that made it very, very difficult.”
‘I worked with someone with whom I wasn’t compatible’
Speaking after the experience in 2013, Lulu told Good Housekeeping: “I thought it was just going to be fun, and some of it was. But physically it nearly killed me. It took me a year to get my body back. I didn’t do any exercise for 12 months because I had bruised ribs.”
Speaking about Brendan, she then added: “I worked with someone with whom I wasn’t really compatible. So that was very hard. You have to step back and laugh at yourself. I think that attitude saved me when I was voted out.”
Read more: Brendan Cole admits he had ‘absolutely awful’ time after returning to Strictly following show axe
What do you think about Strictly star Brendan Cole’s comments about Lulu? Leave a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix. We want to hear your thoughts!