Strictly star slams favouritism row in furious rant: "I'm very angry about this"
Former Stirctly Come Dancing star Anne Widdecombe has blasted critics of the BBC show as she believes that celebrities of all dancing abilities should be able to take part.
This comes after critics of the show felt it was unfair that some of the contestants of this year's line up have had dance training before, while others will be starting from complete scratch. The former MP, 75, took part in the ballrooom dance contest alongside professional dancer Anton Du Beke in 2010, when she was 68, and surprisingly, she soon became a favourite among fans due to her lack of skill on the dancefloor.
Speaking to GB News on the topic of Strictly "not being a level playing field" she fumed: “I’m very angry about this. The whole point of it is that you didn't start on an even keel. If you have everybody starting evenly, then you wouldn't have pensioners, which I was when I showed up. You wouldn't have pensioners and young dancers in the same competition. It just would be unheard of."
She added: "It's supposed to be family entertainment, and the joy of it is that you have got this range of dancers, and some will be utterly useless. Some will be useless but funny, which is what I was.” Anne was voted off after ten weeks on the show. And in her year, she was competing against stars such as ex-EastEnder star Kara Tointon who wowed judges from the start with her effortless moves, which resulted in her being crowned winner.
Anne, who is best known politically and within the entertainment industry as bein opinionated, was also incredibly candid about her inability to pick up a rhythm. She continued: “I can't hear music, I'm tone deaf in the literal sense. I couldn't pick up a beat and Anton would say stuff right at the beginning like, you know, go off on the fourth beat and I would say what’s that? I couldn't hear it!”
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Her comments come on the back of this year's line up which include Angela Rippon, 78, who has previously had dance training. Other contestants include comedian Les Dennis,69, former Made In Chelsea star Zara McDermott and actress Amanda Abbington. But it seems that Anne Widdecombe is not the only person to wade in on the argument, so too has Strictly's lead judge, Shirley Ballas.
She told Mirror online: "“I think it’s very unfair at this point to single out anybody, because most children had a little bit of training,” She added: "“If somebody goes to stage school for singing and acting, there’s always normally a little bit of dance included. It might not be their forte. It’s nothing like learning ballroom dancing. It’s a total discipline all of its own.
Shirley also claims that a professional dancer, who has trained for most of their life, would also have to adjust to dancing ballroom as it's a completely separate discipline to other dance genres. She added: "If you take a jazz dancer, they dance on their own, they do their thing, unless they’re in a group. “You take ballroom dancing, you really have to learn to dance with a partner - that’s four arms, four legs, two heads, two quarters... you’ve got to be intertwined and working together.”
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