Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Ex-Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan has been grinding his axe about secretly trained performers on the show again.

The former star of the BBC celebrity contest has made no secret of his irritation at producers signing up contestants with a dance background who are passed off as total beginners.

Now, he’s revealed that Ed Balls, despite his fumbling moves, is his favourite from this year’s line-up because he is not hiding a performing past.

James and Ola have criticised the show (Matt Alexander/PA)

James, married to fellow ex-Strictly dancer Ola Jordan, told Digital Spy: “My favourite is Ed. No (I’m not joking), I love him.”

Ola agreed: “He was the most entertaining last weekend.”

James went on: “He’s what the show is all about. Some people are saying that he shouldn’t be there – but the others are trained dancers. Some of them are paid to dance.

Ed’s routine with Katya Jones on Saturday was a hit (BBC)

“It’s supposed to be about people who can’t dance and watching them improve and their journey, not about these people who have already been trained to dance.”

Asked if he was referring to Danny Mac, he replied: “Not just him – there are a lot of people in there who who have had a lot of training but don’t admit to it. There are others who are trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

“Look, we’re professional dancers, and we can see when someone’s trying to pull the wool over our eyes…”

Danny, dancing with Oti Mabuse, has apparently had plenty of experience (BBC)

James live tweets throughout the Strictly shows each weekend and often complains about the contestants who he feels have clearly had previous training.

Recently, contestant Greg Rutherford has also spoken about lagging behind those with more experience.

Greg dances with Natalie Lowe (BBC)

He said: “You talk to the other guys about how hard you’re finding it and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’ve never done anything like this before’. Then you find out they went to stage school.

“I’m like, ‘So you have done something like this before’. I’ve just jumped into some sand – in a straight line, not even a zig-zag. I’m coming at this from zero experience.”

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