Shayne Ward’s elimination from last week’s Strictly Come Dancing has caused a stir amongst the fans, but one former professional has also questioned the decision.
Singer Ward, 40, found himself in the dreaded dance-off against opera singer Wynne Evans, 52. In a shock move, the judges couldn’t agree on who to keep in the competition but due to head judge Shirley Ballas having the deciding vote, her decision to save Evans meant Ward and professional partner Nancy Xu were booted off the BBC show.
The public has made their criticism of this latest decision known, and they’ve now been joined by Ola Jordan, 42, who starred as a pro on the series from 2006 to 2015.
In a scathing analysis, she suggested both Evans and comedian Chris McCausland have been marked too highly in their dances compared to Ward, who she argued judges had been harsh on in the most recent instalment of the beloved show.
“It’s a tricky situation,” she began. “We’ve got to start with the fight that everyone’s got their own opinion.
“My opinion is still valid; everyone’s opinions are valid, so it depends on who sits on that panel.”
“I thought that Shayne was too low on the leaderboard; he was in the bottom two, and the judges could say, ‘Well, people didn’t vote for him,’ which is correct, but he was still in the wrong place on the leaderboard to start with for me,” she argued.
“When I look at the whole line-up, he had 30 points. He should have got more. I thought he should have had more than Chris. Chris got 33 points.”
Speaking to Mecca Bingo, she explained further: “The leaderboard is combined with people’s votes as well, so Shayne’s probably not getting that many votes, that’s why he was in the bottom two.”
Displaying no qualms about naming other contestants, she went on: “But let’s say Montell [Douglas]; she might be still getting the same votes as Shayne, but because she’s higher on the leaderboard, she will not go down to the bottom two.
“Last week I said he’s going to be in the bottom two because he’s not getting many votes.
“He got Rumba, which is a tricky dance. You can’t compare that to a Couple’s Choice. With Chris [McCausland] and Dianne [Buswell’s], there was not much technique there.”
Jordan, who is married to fellow former professional James Jordan, added: “Rumba is a much more difficult dance than the Couple’s Choice.
“Pete [Wicks] and Jowita [Przystal] did an amazing Couple’s Choice, but he didn’t have to have straight legs and hip action.
“I do think Shayne did a great job, and I wasn’t a fan of his dancing in previous weeks; I was always quite critical, but in this instance, I think he was too low on the leaderboard.
“So he had no chance to not be in the bottom two because we all knew that he was in the bottom two already twice before; this was the third time.”
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The mother-of-one shared a stern verdict on whether or not the judges had undermarked contestants, stating: “I think Shayne, probably out of everyone because I feel that he did better than the leaderboard.
“He had a difficult dance, but he did an excellent job. Chris was above him, and Sarah [Hadland] and Montell were above him. He did just as good a job as Montell – and she got 36 points.”
Jordan seems to have taken a leaf out of her husband’s book, with James, 46, notorious for his criticism of the show and judges’ opinions ever since he left in 2013.
Expressing the thoughts behind her decision to send Ward home on Sunday’s Results Show, Ballas, 64, compared the two routines as she commented: “One of you displayed a much more powerful and joyous routine, so it was quite difficult for me to choose. But on this occasion, I’m going to save Wynne and Katya.”
Following a public backlash and subsequent “fix” claims, Ballas has spoken out since the show to defend her choice and blast the “vitriol” she’s received from the public.