Strictly Come Dancing's Montell Douglas faces major disadvantage, pro warns

Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole has said that the show is making a "major" error with Montell Douglas, as he offered his thoughts on the new series

Strictly Come Dancing's professional dancer Brendan Cole has voiced his concerns over Montell Douglas.

Montell, who shot to fame on Gladiators, has been performing well and fans were charmed by her recent routines. Nonetheless, there were worries that she might have been at risk of leaving the competition early after she found herself subject to what some are calling a 'curse' for being the first to perform on Saturday's live show.

Despite the supposed curse, Montell and her dance partner Johannes Radebe succeeded in making it through to the following week, gearing up to present a Viennese Waltz, reports Birmingham Live.

In discussion with Sky Vegas, he said: "There's one major flaw that the show is making with Montell. In Ballroom and Latin dances, especially in these Ballroom dances where they're very elegant feet are massively important.

"The way somebody closes their feet, the way somebody goes through their feet walking from foot to the next foot, the way the heel goes down, the way the toe comes up, the way you rise up onto your toes, the way you lower down these things matter."

He further explained his point: "Flaws can be highlighted by something as simple as a shoe, then it can be a big problem. A dark brown shoe stands out on the foot it doesn't blend into the foot. All I saw were her feet, because she looks like she's got the wrong colour shoe on, it's too dark for her skin complexion for me."

Montell has previously stated that her fitness background doesn't necessarily give her an edge in the show.

"Flexibility and mobility is where I'm going to need a lot of work, as for so long I drilled the opposite, needing to be stiffer for power," she told Digital Spy, "My work ethic is stupidly high. I usually train for X amount of hours, and it's short, power stuff, but this is brain power for a long, sustained time, and it's also muscular endurance in an aerobic capacity, which aren't my fortes".

Johannes chimed in: "I've been sent different kinds of people every single year, and this won't be my first rodeo working with a sports person, but what Montell already has is a plus to me, and that is presence. You have to teach some people how to be present."

Strictly Come Dancing airs weekends on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.