Former Strictly Come Dancing professionals Ola and James Jordan have stepped forth to sensationally slam John Whaite and Johannes Radebe’s latest performance.
Over the weekend the boys – the first same sex male partners in the BBC show’s history – were allowed to perform their choice of dance to help get them through the semi final.
But the boys found themselves in the bottom two come Sunday night as their contemporary performance failed to wow the judges – however they did make it to the final after beating off competition from Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.
Former professional dancers Ola, 39, and James, 43 – who have been married since 2003 and starred on Strictly from until 2015 – were unimpressed by 32-year-old John and 34-year-old Johannes.
Speaking to OK! to give their professional verdicts, Ola and James suggested John and Johannes risked being dumped from the contests at the last hurdle due to their lacklustre performance.
Speaking about the lads’ choice of dance, Ola said: “I’ve never been a fan of Couple's Choice, and sadly John and Johannes' attempt really didn't do it for me last night.”
James agreed – saying the boys gave a weak performance.
He said: “It's not taking away from the fact that John is an exceptional dancer. He's got such a natural talent, he's easily the best celebrity dancer in the competition - but it didn't stand out to me either. “
The couple also suggested the fact that John and Johannes are a same sex couple held back their dance as well.
Ola said: “With contemporary, you need the balance between light and shade, which is easier to achieve when a man and woman dance together because they move totally differently.”
James again agreed with his wife and said: “Perhaps one reason why it didn't work was that both John and Johannes are a similar frame, so it lacked a softness that contemporary needs - but it just wasn't for me.
“Sometimes you need both masculinity and femininity, and in their dance, I didn't see that.”
Ola went on: “We've seen it in other dances they've done, like their Tango or their Pasodoble - but this dance lacked an element of 'wow' factor for me.”
Concluding his scathing review, James added: “And I really didn't like the part where Johannes looked like he was walking on the moon! It just wasn't a showstopper, which is a shame.”
Ola went on to explain that she was glad she never had to perform a couple’s choice on Strictly as she left the show in 2015 and the option was added to the show in a subsequent season.
James – who quit Strictly in 2013 – was also glad to never have had to perform a couples dance either, and laughed: “Thank God! I'm quite glad we didn't have to do one, imagine me doing hip hop! People would be asking for their TV license fee back.”
The Strictly Come Dancing 2021 live final airs on BBC One on Saturday night at 7pm.
