Adams slated as ‘worst ever’ Strictly dancer
THE first live show of the new Strictly Come Dancing series took place on Saturday – and critics on Twitter judged Tony Adams’ performance as the ‘worst dance’ ever seen on the glitzy show.
The former footballer, 55, was slated online for his performance. One wrote: ‘Tony Adams is one of my footballing heroes but that was dreadful’. Another asked: ‘Has Tony Adams got rigor mortis?’
The ex-England and Arsenal star was lowered onto the ballroom atop a gold cannon dressed in his former club’s colours of red and white. But he finished bottom of the leader board with just 15 points for his tango with professional partner Katya Jones.
Saturday’s show also saw a handful of celebrities including Kaye Adams, 59, and Ellie Taylor, 38, criticised by the judges for making mistakes.
Actor Will Mellor, 46, and wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin, 32, finished joint top of the leader board after achieving an impressive score of 34. Mellor’s jive to Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin, with his partner Nancy Xu, was hailed the ‘best start ever’ by Motsi Mabuse, while BBC cameraman Yassin and his partner Jowita Przystal impressed with their foxtrot to Islands In The Stream.
Anton Du Beke declared: ‘We’ve got ourselves a ballroom dancer in the house.’
Elsewhere Paralympian gold medallist Ellie Simmonds, 27, made history as she became the first contestant with dwarfism to perform on the show. She scored 26 for her cha cha cha with Nikita Kuzmin.
The series also features two same-sex pairings – reigning champion Giovanni Pernice and BBC Radio 2’s Richie Anderson, and comedian and actor Jayde Adams, 37, and professional Karen Hauer.
The show was watched by some 6.84 million viewers – one million less than last year. The figures mark the show’s worst opening since 2014.