Dancer defends Strictly partner ‘with no X Factor experience’
STRICTLY COME Dancing’s Brendan Cole has jumped to the defence of his celebrity partner Charlotte Hawkins once again, and said she is doing well considering she is “not one of the people from X Factor”.
The professional dancer caused waves on the BBC One programme on Saturday night as he defended Hawkins against head judge Shirley Ballas when she critiqued their routine, after also hitting back at the judges the previous week.
Following their dance during movie week, a Top Gun-themed tango, the former Queen of Latin had barely got to the end of her sentence before Cole interrupted: “I’m really sorry, but there was no rise and fall.”
She told him to look back over the footage, to which Cole
firmly responded: “I will, my dear.”
Appearing alongside Good Morning Britain presenter Hawkins on the ITV programme, Cole said: “I’ve watched the tape back, I’ve seen it – there is no rise and fall in it.” Cole added: “What Charlotte did on Saturday was a phenomenal dance compared to what we’d done before and given the fact she’s not one of the people from X Factor.”
This year’s series currently has two former X Factor contestants – ex-JLS member Aston Merrygold and 2008 champion Alexandra Burke.
He said Hawkins made a “massive” improvement from her dance the previous weekend, which saw her receive just 12 points from the judges, the lowest score of the series so far. Asked by Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan what he thought about being told he needed to be more respectful, Cole said: “Well, I think they’re all a bit upset with me.”