Fuming Strictly viewers accuse ‘mean’ judge Anton Du Beke of being ‘horrible’ to celeb – did you spot it?
FUMING Strictly Come Dancing viewers accused ‘mean’ judge Anton Du Beke of being ‘horrible’ to one particular celebrity.
Last Weekends edition of the long-running BBC One dancing competition saw the judges unanimously eliminate Jamie Borthwick, 30.
The EastEnders actor was the ninth star name to face the axe on Strictly Come Dancing.
Although he tried to impress the judges with a Foxtrot, the proclaimed ‘King of Ballroom’ Anton Du Beke, 58, was not impressed.
After Jamie’s performance, he remarked: “I love the fact that when you rehearse you think of me, you compare yourself to me.
“I can see a lot, boyish charm, your young good looks, firm to the touch.”
This was as Jamie appeared to hide behind his professional partner Michelle Tsiakkas, 29.
Anton continued: “Your right arm is terrible.
“It’s nothing like mine, mine’s amazing. You have so many good qualities. This is it, you dance beautifully.
“I want you to go to the next level and it’s all abstract. Because I need to feel what you have inside coming out.
“So I need you to go mad for a day in rehearsal. Go over the top, everything you think you’re doing over the top, do more.”
He added: “Be ridiculous. Be more like Craig [Revel Horwood] than me. Be ridiculous and over the top.
“This is the bit that we lack, because your quality is unsurpassed, it’s absolutely beautiful. So you are a beautiful dancer, but I think you’ve got more.”
Despite his seemingly disparaging comments, Anton was the judge to give Jamie the highest marks for his dance.
He awarded him a score of nine for what was to be his final competitive performance.
However, viewers were very unhappy with his critique towards the EastEnders actor as they thought Anton was too harsh.
Strictly 2024 pairings
Here's who is matched with who this series...
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones
In a thread on social media forum site Reddit, one fan wrote: “Anton seemed to have it in for Jamie the comments he made about his arm looking terrible. Do you agree?.”
It seems other viewers seemed to agree as one suggested: “He probably could’ve been a bit less blunt than using the words ‘your right arm is terrible’.”
Adding: “I first thought it was a joke that didn’t land and ended up coming off awkward and harsh.”
As a second commented: “Anton is insufferable. His arrogance has soared since becoming a judge, gets worse every year.”
Your right arm is terrible.
Anton speaking to Jamie
On a separate forum a third stated: “The comment about Jamie’s elbow being terrible and not as good as his?
“All of them not just Anton, came across as bit blech on Saturday.”
However, other viewers thought the former professional dancer was actually accurate in his critique on this occasion as they accused him of usually being too lenient on the actor.
“No. Anton’s comment was correct,” exclaimed a fourth fan.
As a fifth viewer noted: “No I don’t think he was, I think quite the opposite. They all been overly generous towards him.”
And another user added: “No he always scores Jamie higher than other judges.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.