Neil Jones has claimed that costumes have 'hidden' bad performances on Strictly Come Dancing, in comments that could land hi in trouble with BBC bosses.
Despite being on the show for years now, popular pro dancer Neil has so far only had two celeb partners - Alex Scott in 2019 and Nina Wadia last year. When this year's delayed Strictly launch show finally aired on BBC One in mid-September, many fans were angry on Neil's behalf tha t he wasn't picked again, especially after newcomers joined the cast this year and were put into couples.
Neil has been seen dancing in Strictly group numbers in the new series and on Sunday night featured heavily as a guest dancer when singer Rina Sawayama was the latest musical guest to grace the ballroom with their presence .On Tuesday, He appeared, as he often does as a guest on BBC daytime programme Morning Live.
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The show features a Strictly Fitness section, which Neil took the lead of, right as former champion Kelvin Fletcher joined presenters Gethin Jones and Sam Kwek in the studio. Prior to the demonstration, Neil introduced a clip of Kelvin and celeb partner Oti Mabuse in action for their Beauty and the Beat inspired American Smooth routine back in 2019.
And, after Gethin made a remark about how good the costumes were, Neil quipped: "And we know good costumes can always hide bad dancing,' before turning to Gethin and joking: "You should know that!"
Former Blue Peter star Gethin shot back: "Yeah, hide the dancing with the costumes; that was my tactic!"
As well as Strictly viewers hitting out at bosses for not giving Neil a celebrity partner this year, someone else who questioned the decision was former pro James Jordan. On the night the couples were revealed, James took to Twitter to post: "Very strange - such a shame they don’t use the talent we have in this country. Especially when he has the best pedigree. Nothing against the foreign dancers as my wife was one of them BUT too few home grown so why not Neil???"
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