AJ Pritchard thinks Dan Walker is "improving each week" on Strictly Come Dancing - but he's "disappointed" by Rhys Stephenson.
The former Strictly professional is backing the BBC Breakfast host and his professional partner Nadiya Bychkova to continue in the competition, as he praised Dan for making leaps and bounds in his dancing ability amid claims of a 'fix'.
Fans were shocked when Dan made it through another week and he will be dancing tonight in the quarter final, alongside the remaining contestants - Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice, John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington and Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.
However, AJ admits he has been left feeling "disappointed" after Rhys' dances as he wants to see more "emotion" from the presenter.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror in conjunction with William Hill, AJ said: "I think Dan's really improved each week.
"As much as to some people he's the controversial character, we're seeing him improve. He's entertaining. He did a rumba where you have to stand still for a lot of the time. It's so much harder to stand still than be given stuff to do so he did really well."
He added: "I'm a bit disappointed with Rhys, I wanted to see more emotion.
"I want to see that feeling and I feel like yes, he's technically pretty perfect but I'm not seeing emotion and at the end of the day, you vote for somebody that you're emotionally connected to."
AJ can see Dan making improvements each week and he believes the presenter has been gaining confidence each time, as he likened Dan to "Bambi on ice" to begin with when he stepped on the dance floor.
He added: "I think with Dan getting the scores that he deserves each week and progressing each week.
"It's given him the confidence to know he's going the right way and the public understand - yes he's improving. He's got giant legs, he was Bambi on ice to start with whereas now I watch him do a rumba and I quite enjoyed it. That's hell of a journey.
"It's given Dan a journey that he's had low scores and worked his way up."
*AJ Pritchard was speaking to The Mirror in conjunction with William Hill.
