Craig Revel Horwood faces the wrath of Strictly Come Dancing fans again (what’s new?) after dishing out a particularly cutting critique and a painfully low score to match on Saturday night.
The notoriously sharp-tongued judge was left unimpressed by Helen Skelton‘s Samba and, never one to hold back, let her know it when it came time for his comments, calling the routine “very rigid” and adding: “It was very straight; it was very wooden; there was no bounce; it was very square; there was no hip action.
“Fantastic personality! You brought that to the floor, at least,” he conceded.
Shirley Ballas, however, challenged her fellow judge on his criticisms, saying: “I thought it was a little bit in and out. I thought, for 75 per cent, you did some good Samba.
“I don’t agree with you,” she said, turning to Craig. “I saw some bounce. I saw a Corta Jaca over here on a slow-quick-quick rhythm – doesn’t require bounce. And I saw some other things that you did extremely well.
“So I thought, for a Samba, being a difficult dance, you did it well.”
Craig gave Helen a measly five points for her Week 10 routine, in stark contrast to the marks from the rest of the judging panel, each of whom awarded her eight points.
We asked Strictly fans what they thought of the scores and whether they agreed with Craig’s or with Motsi Mabuse, Shirley and Anton Du Beke’s – and you turned out in force to make your feelings clear.
86.3 per cent of fans who voted on Twitter said they disagreed with Craig’s score for Helen, with just 13.7 per cent siding with him.
Did you agree with Craig’s score of 5 versus the other judges’ 8s for Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez? #Strictly
— Radio Times (@RadioTimes) November 26, 2022
In fact, many Strictly fans also took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the matter, with one calling the score “unfair”.
Whuttt, that 5 for Helen from Craig was *massively* unfair #Strictly 🧐💃
— John 🌱💚🌏🕊️🏳️🌈🇪🇺🐈⬛ (@johnwiththatcat) November 26, 2022
“Am I the only one who thought Helen was hugely undermarked?” another asked. “Particularly by Craig – Jesus that wasn’t worth a 5.”
“No way did Helen deserve a 5 from Craig,” a third Tweeted. “Helen got my vote tonight and deserves to be in the quarter-final.”
Despite some constructive criticism from the judges (and a very low mark from Craig), Helen made it through to next week’s quarter-final by dodging the dance off on Sunday night.
Ellie Taylor and Fleur East found themselves in the bottom two, with the judges opting to save the latter after she dazzled with another performance of her Rumba.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Friday 2nd December 2022 on BBC One. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide for more to watch.
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