Joanne Clifton knows a thing or two about dancing – she did, after all, accompany Ore Oduba to last year’s Strictly title.
And the 34-year-old is apparently seeing something in this series that the judges are not.
Craig, Darcey, Shirley and Bruno seem to gush over Alexandra Burke and Debbie McGee’s performances on the dancefloor most weeks.
However, writing for the Radio Times, Joanne tore into the two show favourites, branding them “predictable” and claiming they lacked the “wow” factor last week.
The blonde star left the BBC show after last year’s series to focus on a theatrical career, but she evidently still watches it.
And after witnessing last weekend’s quarter-finals, she felt that Alex and Debbie weren’t up to scratch.
She wrote: “This might be a bit controversial, but if the dances were being judged on improvement, performance, production, choreography and difficulty, I would’ve put Debbie McGee and Alexandra Burke in the bottom two.
“I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I just think at this point in the competition we’re expecting something wow from these two – and they weren’t wow.”
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As it turns out, Alexandra and her partner Gorka Marquez DID find themselves in the bottom two when the results were announced on Sunday – despite having their Charleston scored highly by the judges on Saturday.
But Joanne reckons that Debbie and her partner Giovanni Pernice should’ve joined them in the dance-off, instead of Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova, who ended up leaving the show.
Wrote Joanne: “I’m kind of disappointed that Alexandra and Debbie come out and do the same thing over and over again every week. It’s flat, predictable and very safe.”
As for Ore Oduba, he revealed last month that he’s also been watching the current series – but while he was somewhat more positive than his former dance partner, he did admit that he sometimes finds it hard to tune in, knowing the pressure the contestants are under.
The sports presenter, 32, told the Radio Times: “I’m living every single moment. I barely sat down last weekend while it was on.
“If there’s a slight mistake, my heart sinks and beats unhealthily fast. Even before the titles run, I can feel what the dancers are feeling.”
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As for the rumoured ‘backstage feuds’ we’ve been hearing so much about, Ore seemed to suggest that there was nothing of the sort when he competed on the show.
He explained: “I’m not pining to be doing it again, but if there’s something I miss, it’s the camaraderie and the backstage atmosphere. There’s nothing like that buzz.”