Ian Waite on Greg’s Strictly exit and “disappointing” performance from John and Johannes

By Grace Henry

Published: Monday, 18 October 2021 at 12:00 am

It’s been one heck of a week on Strictly Come Dancing, with two exits and one contestant having to pull out for Week Four.

On Wednesday 13th October, Robert Webb quit Strictly due to his ill health. A day later, Ugo Monye pulled out of Strictly for Week Four as a result of an ongoing back injury.

And despite Webb’s early departure, a third celebrity was eliminated from Strictly during Sunday night’s results show.

After finishing at the bottom of the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard, with a score of 19, Greg Wise found himself in the dance off against Judi Love, however, the judges decided to save Judi and Graziano.

Here, RadioTimes.com columnist and former Strictly pro, Ian Waite, shares his thoughts on Week Four – from the best performances of the night (hats off to Sara and Aljaz), to those that could do with a little work (sorry, John and Johannes!)

Ian on Saturday’s lower scores

“I think when the first three weeks have been so good from everybody, there are a lot of high expectations. So if people come out with not such great dances, then they’re going to be marked lower, even though they’ve only been doing it for four weeks. It’s kind of understandable.”

How did the Strictly couples do this week?

Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice – “There were a couple of mistakes at the beginning of the routine, but this was quickly recovered and overall the quality of Cha Cha action was very good. If the hip action was exaggerated a little, it would have improved the end result.”
Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden – “Very Fred and Ginger interpretation of the foxtrot, pure Hollywood classic romance and glamour. Tom should try to improve the frame and footwork for his next Ballroom dance.”
Tilly Ramsay and Nikita Kuzmin – “This was such a fantastic interpretation of a Paso Doble, and I enjoyed the use of lighting with the spotlights to create the drama. I’d like to see more shaping in the body and arms from Tilly.”
Greg Wise and Karen Hauer – “Greg and Karen made lots of mistakes and sadly the voltas and Samba whisks were all done with flat feet. Samba is nicknamed ‘The Dance of Death’ by the pros, because it’s such a hard dance and one that lots of couples on Strictly go out on.”
John Whaite and Johannes Radebe – “I totally agreed with Craig. There were too many ideas in one routine, which made the performance look disjointed. There wasn’t enough Ballroom throughout for me. That being said, I always enjoy watching them dance and get excited to see what they’re going to produce each week.”
Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu – “This was a high energy performance, but needs a bit more finesse to receive higher marks. Sometimes Rhys loses control of his limbs with all of his enthusiasm, but I still think he has huge potential.”
Sara Davies and Aljaz Skorjanec – “Excellent posture and frame throughout. I love the drama and the wonderful footwork. I think Aljaz has superb ballroom teaching skills, which is translating through Sara’s dancing. Her head is slightly too far to the left though, and probably needs more shaping in the body.”
Dan Walker and Nadiya Bychkova – “I really enjoyed this dance with all the MC Hammer references, and although the Cha Cha technique wasn’t great, I loved the commitment to the performance.”
Judi Love and Graziano Di Prima – “This was a very touching waltz, which showed us raw emotions as a tribute to Judi’s parents. We could have had more movement across the floor but a beautiful dance.”
Adam Peaty and Katya Jones – “The lifts were so incredible and innovative. It felt intense and definitely drew us into the performance. It was strong and powerful with flexibility. It was a very good dance for them this week.

“AJ has nothing to worry about”

“I think that’s probably going to be AJ’s worst dance! I think from here on in, it will just get better and better. Like I said, this is the worst dance, so it’s understandable that that she got a low score. I just think everybody goes up and down throughout the show, as did John and Johannes, so you’ve got to kind of expect that.”