Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood pulls no punches as he reveals what he thinks of the seven celebrity dancers left in the competition ahead of tonight’s results show
Strictly Come Dancing’s most feared judge, Craig Revel Horwood, has revealed what he thinks about the seven celebrities still standing in the contest after last night's Blackpool show…
Craig has labelled Ed Balls’ dancing as “hilarious” as he gave his verdict on the remaining seven Strictly candidates.
The judge on the hit BBC One show praised the standard of dancing, and said he has “had the most fun I think I’ve ever had on any series this year”.
Here is his verdict on the remaining seven couples competing for Glitterball glory:
1. Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton
“I think Ore is really talented, for someone that has never danced before, he has a real gift for picking up and looking at something and being able to replicate it. He is a real power house and a force to be reckoned with.”
2. Ed Balls and Katya Jones
“I think Ed is hysterical, however he sadly doesn’t dance particularly well. But I know the audience is absolutely loving seeing him go through… I think what is great about him is he really tries very, very hard to learn the dancing and also he is very good at timing. His hip action is non-existent, as we saw in the salsa, but he is hugely entertaining.”
3. Louise Redknapp and Kevin Clifton
“I love Louise, she has really come out of her shell. She started on the series quite timid and shy and you could really tell from her dancing she was very inward, and it’s so wonderful to see her gain confidence and grow… I am absolutely loving her work.”
4. Claudia Fragapane and AJ Pritchard
“I think (they) have reached a bit of a plateau, they’re at a bit of a peak. Claudia is wonderful now she can actually dance in heels. She was very pigeon-toed and awkward on the heels but now she’s really gotten used to it and she’s been training very, very hard and I think they make a fantastic couple. I think they are really, really good together, but whether she can go any further, I really don’t know, I think that’s going to be up to the general public.”
5. Judge Rinder and Oksana Platero
“Well, Judge Rinder has finally calmed down those ghastly facial expressions which just put me off entirely. I mean it’s hard to watch someone’s footwork when that mouth is open, catching flies all the time, so he has learnt to calm down and get into the character of the dance.”
6. Greg Rutherford and Natalie Lowe
“I really love their choreography. I had a go at them for that (their rumba during Halloween week), I could only mark that a four because for me it wasn’t a complete rumba. It was a wonderful show dance, if they had done that in the final as a show dance they probably would have achieved a 10. I know Greg got very upset but they seem to have gotten over that. I think he is fantastic at putting his mind to something and he takes it extremely seriously, and that is why it affects him so much and hurts him so much.”
7. Danny Mac and Oti Mabuse
“Danny is going to have to watch his back because there are people who are really winning the general public’s opinion, and what I think he really needs to do is go out there and canvass the votes. He has a lot of people on his side, obviously, because he is such a great dancer. He still needs to work on his technique, he still needs to work on his top line, he needs to work on his heel leads… I hope he gets through because he is wonderful to watch.”
The Strictly Come Dancing results show is on BBC1, Sunday, November 20, 7.30pm
