In Nigel Harman news, former Strictly pro Brendan Cole has exclusively shared his feelings following the actor’s Blackpool performance.
Brendan, 47, suggested to ED! Nigel, 50, didn’t quite reach expectations with his routine last weekend.
That may have been how the judges felt, too – with Nigel and his pro partner Katya Jones second bottom of the leaderboard.
But while the judges dished out only 31 points to Nigel and Katya, the viewers at home put Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell in the dance off against bottom-placed Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington.
Now Brendan has reflected on what he would’ve changed about Nigel’s appearance on Strictly on Saturday – and a lot of it concerns what happened after the quickstep.
Nigel Harman criticism ‘deserved’
Speaking on behalf of Sky Bingo, Brendan said: “I think the judge’s criticism of Nigel was kind of deserved. The thing with Nigel is he has an ability to look really good and he kind of looks like he belongs there, on the dancefloor. But at the same time, some of the technical aspects are not great.
“For me, his quickstep, although it was a good quickstep, was quite jerky in places. In particular when he was moving backwards, it almost felt like his body dropped so he wasn’t lowering through his legs with control.
“Things like that make a massive difference to a quickstep looking a bit average or really good.”
‘Nigel needs to be very careful’
Brendan also pondered whether there was ‘uncertainty’ over the routine.
“For me, when I watched their dance, I also felt it was a little unsure,” he said.
Brendan continued: “It seemed like they didn’t quite manage to achieve what could have been a great Blackpool quickstep. But it was a nice number to watch and I enjoyed it.”
However, Brendan advised Nigel not to let his expressions betray how he may be feeling inside.
He went on: “I think Nigel needs to be very careful because the disappointment in his face was very noticeable and it will affect people voting for him.
“His face told 1,000 stories and I felt for him. In that situation if you really care about being in the show it’s very hard to hide your disappointment when you are getting heavily critiqued.
People don’t like it when it looks like you are annoyed with the judges.
“I was yelling at the TV ‘change your face’, because people don’t like it when it looks like you are annoyed with the judges – trust me I know.”
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 continues on Saturday November 25, on BBC One at 7.30pm. It Takes Two airs on weekdays on BBC Two, at 6.30pm.
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