Ian Waite says he often disagrees with Craig Revel Horwood’s “low” Strictly scores

By Grace Henry

Published: Saturday, 09 October 2021 at 12:00 am

The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing is currently underway, with the show saying goodbye to its first contestant last weekend.

On Sunday 3rd October, Nina Wadia became the first celebrity to leave Strictly 2021, after finishing at the bottom of the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard and losing in the dance off against Katie McGlynn.

Wadia wasn’t the only contestant in the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 line-up to receive low scores from the judges though, with Ugo Monye, Katie McGlynn, Robert Webb and Greg Wise receiving a combined Week One and Week Two score of 47 or lower.

While Greg received pretty decent scores from most of the judges, it was Craig Revel Horwood’s score of 3 that knocked him down – something professional dancer and RadioTimes.com columnist, Ian Waite, doesn’t necessarily agree with.

Asked whether he quibbled with any of the judges’ scores or comments over the weekend, he said: “Well they’re normally mostly Craig’s. It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s too low.’”

Speaking of Greg’s performance in particular, Ian continued: “Obviously, this dance was a very emotional dance – the performance dedicated to his beloved sister, who died from breast cancer. And I thought it was a real fitting tribute with the slow motion start into the disco part and very secure stable lifts. They were incredible. They really were.”

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Greg Wise and Karen Hauer
BBC

He continued: “I felt that the showmanship could have been amped up a little bit more as far as the performance was concerned, but I really loved it and I think maybe Craig was a bit harsh with the three.”

While Ian doesn’t always agree with Craig’s judging, he believes the lower scoring at the beginning of the competition will only allow for judges to raise these scores as the competition goes on.

“It’s a difficult situation for the judges at the moment,” he explained. “They’re just getting the feel of the couples. There’s so many couples, so you kind of have to start mid range, so you’ve got somewhere to go. You can’t start with a couple with nine and then everybody’s better than that couple. It’s very difficult. I don’t envy those judges at all.”

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Strictly Come Dancing judges
BBC

Craig also pointed out that new judge Anton Du Beke, who has replaced Bruno Tonioli on the new series, had missed some of the dancers’ mistakes during Saturday night’s show.

So, how does Ian think Anton is doing?

“Anton is absolutely fabulous and I love the fact that he’s coming from a place of experience and knowledge,” he gushed. “He’s been in those positions for many, many years, and he can talk about and reflect on his own experiences. I love that he’s on the panel and he can do that, because nobody else can do that. I think he’s giving great technical advice as well.  I love to hear  when Anton comes out with those technical terms. It makes my heart sing, because I want to say the same as well, so yeah I think he’s doing a fantastic job.”

Addressing Craig’s recent comments, he added: “I think it’s difficult when you’re watching the performance because obviously they write notes as well, so you want to write notes whilst you’re watching the performance, and you might miss a couple of things, because things are so fast like a lift or something like that or a mistake. I can understand where Anton’s coming from and Craig.”

This weekend will see Tom Fletcher and his professional dance partner Amy Dowden return to the ballroom, after having to take a week out due to COVID-19.

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Strictly star Tom Fletcher
BBC

Tom previously revealed he’s planning a “special” Strictly comeback, and Ian thinks we might just see that when the musician takes to the dance floor on Saturday, with the former Strictly pro predicting that Tom will be “one of the best ballroom dancers.”

“I can’t wait to see Tom’s ballroom,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing it. We’ve seen him in the Latin, but I think he’s lovely and tall, he’s slim and elegant. I think he’s going to be one of the best ballroom dancers that we’ve seen hopefully.”

No pressure, Tom!

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One on Saturdays and Sundays. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide or visit our Entertainment hub for the latest news.