10 December 2023 , 17:10
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BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans have noticed a bit of 'tension' following comments from Motsi Mabuse.
After Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe's dance, the judge's remarks seemed to hint at some friction between the stars. Mabuse, who joined as a judge in 2019, made a comment that earned applause from her fellow judges after tennis ace Croft and pro dancer Radebe finished their routine.
The tennis player and her South African partner performed a salsa for their first routine on Saturday night's show (December 9). It wasn't perfect, but she still scored 8s across the board for a total score of 32/40.
Photographer: www.lukedyson.com (BBC)Despite this, she remains the bookies' second favourite to win, trailing behind Coronation Street star Ellie Leach. The remaining four couples will find out on Sunday evening (December 10) if they've made it to next week's grand finale.
Mabuse's comments afterwards, which seemed to take a jab at the other dancers, appear to echo what the nation is thinking about their favourites on the show. Motsi Mabuse said: "You know some things just don't need to be perfect. No, I'm honest right now! We don't want a perfect dance because I find that kind of boring. We need to see some, yeah, let's be honest. We need to see joy, we need to see love, we need to see a student who came here and could not dance, and after 12 weeks put that on the dance floor."
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Her remarks were met with thunderous applause in the live studio, and even Strictly professionals were seen on camera cheering and clapping loudly. The camera swept over to capture Neil Jones, Nadiya Bychkova, Jowita Przystal and Amy Dowden showing their support for Motsti's comments by clapping wildly and banging the set.
Viewers who read between the lines suggested that it was a clear sign of tension behind the scenes on the show. They pointed out that Annabel Croft is the only dancer left in the competition without previous performing experience.
Layton Williams has starred in stage productions like Billy Elliot, while Bobby and Ellie are both actors. However, Annabel is a tennis player and has never acted or danced before.
Twitter user @liammg112 commented: "Motsi just gave the biggest clue there is tension with Layton being a professional dancer for sure with her comments with Annabel" Another user, @andieg99, tweeted: "Well we all know what Motsi is saying re. her comments to Annabel!"
@bufferb2012 posted; "Annabelle's weakness is the judges. Judges have been a disgrace this Yr in their scoring! Annabelle not closed the show once. It's a bloody fix." However, some viewers weren't impressed with Motsi's comments and argued that the show should always strive for perfection. @TVqueertiques tweeted: "Sorry... we do want a perfect dance ffs #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing"
And @charllockey97 added: "Yes we need a perfect dance...that is the point of this show..."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]