BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole reveals pro-dancer had to 'simplify' dance for contestant

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole has claimed one of this year’s pros was forced to make a dance easier for their celebrity pairing.

Strictly star Brendan Cole claims a professional on the show "danced down" to make their celebrity partner "look better". Ex Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole has revealed he believes one of the pros from this series was recently forced to make a performance easier so the contestant they are paired with could manage it.

Surprisingly the name in question is someone Brendan had previously thought could eventually win the competition. His theory comes after watching Jamie Borthwick ’s Argentine Tango to the Arctic Monkey's Do I Wanna Know? with his professional partner Michelle Tsiakkas.

Brendan, 48, who appeared in the show from 2004 to 2017, claimed the dance appeared to have been simplified by Michelle because it didn’t have much tango in it, which led to it being "average". "I wouldn't expect her [Michelle] to dance down to try and make him [Jamie] look better," he told Sky Vegas . "Ultimately, the routine was a bit average. It didn't really have that much Argentine Tango in it.

Maybe he couldn't achieve what was being asked and so they had to simplify it? It simply wasn't a very good dance," he added. Prior to 30 year old EastEnders actor Jamie’s most recent appearance in the ballroom, Brendan, who won the first ever series of Strictly with newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky in 2004, had him down to lift the Glitterball Trophy this year. "He's done some phenomenal dances," he said. "I've really loved what he's been up to so far, but on Saturday night, it was fairly average. He's one of the frontrunners for me. If it’s not Chris [McCausland] winning. It probably should be him, but not on Saturday night's performance."

Judges on the BBC show seemed to agree with Brendan if their scoring on the night was anything to go by. Jamie ended up languishing at the bottom of the Leader-board with a mark of 30, along with actor Shayne Ward and his pro partner Nancy Xu. Shayne eventually left the ballroom for good after head judge Shirley Ballas was given the deciding vote.

Luckily Jamie got to take his place for the show’s Blackpool stage after viewer’s votes saved him from the dance-off. But after the show Jamie addressed his performance on Instagram with his fans and confessed he was finding his Strictly journey difficult. He posted: "I would be lying if I said I wasn’t healthily disappointed after last nights performance. I tried my absolute best and gave this week 100% as I promised my beloved @michelle_tsiak but I guess my best just fell short which is what the Strictly experience is all about. This is hard !!!! But it’s very important to not get to high when things are great and to not get to low when it doesn’t go the way we want."

Who do you think should win Strictly? Let us know in the comments below.