Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Lay off my Mike... the trolls’ abuse is painful
Wife begs Strictly fans to go easy after dance-off
MIKE Bushell’s wife has urged Strictly fans to lay off her husband after he was bombarded with online “abuse” for staying in the dancing competition.
Emily Bushell, who only married Mike this year, said the comments had been “painful” – after Catherine Tyldesley was booted off the BBC1 show with partner Johannes Radebe.
She said: “We’re beyond gutted Catherine and Johannes have left but Mike danced well and deserves his spot. This level of abuse is shocking. He’s just a contestant, giving his all.”
Sports presenter Mike, 53, said he was trying to “rise above the abuse”, saying while he was sad to see Catherine leave, “it’s like in football, you have to accept the referee’s decision”.
Meanwhile, Craig Revel Horwood defended Sunday night’s result saying the judges have to make a decision based on the dance-off and not previous performances.
He opted for Bushell and Katya Jones as he thought they “really stepped it up a notch”, while Motsi Mabuse and Bruno Tonioli chose Tyldesley. Head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and chose Bushell.
Speaking on Heart Breakfast, Craig said: “You can only judge what you see in that one minute 30 and in my opinion Mike had the cleaner dance.
“You know if it was another day or if Catherine was doing a rumba for instance, against his tango, then she would have won it.”
Tyldesley and Radebe, who were the fifth couple to leave, performed a cha-cha-cha to Scared Of The Dark by Steps in the Halloween week.
The ex-coronation Street star, 36, paid tribute to her partner, saying: “This man is a gift to the world.
“I’m often low on body confidence – but I’m so proud of the limits that I’ve thoroughly pushed on this wonderful journey. I did it for me.”
ON HIS JUDGING CHOICE