FORMER Strictly Come Dancing star James Jordan has said he doesn’t think Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice deserved four tens – because their dance was missing something.
On Saturday evening, the EastEnders actress, 27, shot to the joint top of the leaderboard with partner Giovanni and their Love Actually-inspired American smooth.
But despite their amazing score and getting rave reviews, former pro James and his wife Ola admitted: “Rose’s performance wasn’t our favourite she has done.”
James continued: “We’ve watched her dance before and thought ‘that was flawless’ and ‘that deserves four 10s’. Last night, I didn’t feel that – it wasn’t one of her epic performances. It rightly deserved its place at the top of the leaderboard though.
He added: “I do agree with Craig’s decision to give both Rhys and Rose a 9 instead of a 10. I loved both dances. I thought choreographically, the costumes, the music and the performances were exquisite, but both dances had something missing.”
In the routine, performed to This Will Be An Everlasting Love by Natalie Cole, the star dived into a lift “never seen before” on Strictly.
Shirlely Ballas told the couple: “You delivered a performance of a lifetime. There was a point in mid air where you were not touching each other, that is really a leap of faith.”
And Craig Revel Horwood added: “Absolutely amazing that lift. I thought the whole routine was absolutely gorgeous, wonderful storytelling.”
However, James and Ola both felt the “leap of faith” wasn’t necessary.
James added to Hello: “I always preferred to keep it clean and safe with my celebrities. I didn’t think that ‘leap of faith’ lift was needed in such a stunning American Smooth – though I can see why it impressed the judges.”
Rose remains the favourite to win the series, with bookmaker Coral offering her odds of 1-5.
The star, who is the first deaf contestant in the show’s history, recently won over viewers with an emotional contemporary routine featuring 10 seconds of silence in tribute to the deaf community.
