ASTON MAKES A GRAVE MISTAKE
STRICTLY star Aston Merrygold sparked uproar by practising for this week’s Halloween special in a cemetery.
Viewers slammed the boyband hunk and his dance partner Janette Manrara for training among tombstones.
Fans branded the stunt “tasteless” and “disrespectful”.
During the skit, shown ahead of the pair’s performance on Saturday, they claimed their antics would help get them “super focused” for the Paso Doble.
They carried out moves next to burial plots in West Norwood cemetery, south London.
One fan raged on Twitter: “I really do find them dancing in a graveyard disrespectful – talk about dancing on someone’s grave…”
Another fumed: “Call me old fashioned – by filming in a graveyard is tasteless.” Another tweeted: “Actually shocked @bbcstrictly would go as far as putting one of their stupid VTs in a graveyard. Seriously.”
And one stormed: “Utterly disrepectful. What idiot thought that was a good idea?”
A BBC spokeswoman said: “With permission from the cemetery they danced in a historical area which is often used as a filming location.
“Everyone was sensitive to their surroundings by ensuring they stuck to the public walkways, and at no point did anyone walk or dance on any grave.”
The judges were blown away by the former JLS singer’s Paso Doble and awarded him 38 points.
But Debbie McGee kept him off the top spot with 39 for her Charleston.