Former Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole has spoken out on the fix row this year, critiquing this year’s dancers in a new interview.
Professional dancer Brendan, 47, gave his opinion on the current state of the BBC competition.
Giving his unfiltered take, he branded actor Layton Williams a “professional”, suggesting that he had an advantage.
BBC producers have been under fire this season following allegations of favouritism, according to The Sun.
Last weekend Layton, 29, and his dance partner Nikita Kuzmin were at the top of the leaderboard, scoring 39 points for their salsa.
Just behind him was former Coronation Street star Ellie Leach, 22, who was given a score of 37 by the judges.
She narrowly missed out topping the board by a mere two points.
Judge Motsi Mabuse, 42, rated her Paso Doble, giving her the highest number of points available.
Despite the incredible routine, Brendan was shocked by her total score, as Layton has the advantage of previous dance training in his theatre career.
His titles roles in the West End include Billy Elliot and Everyone is Talking about Jamie, while his screen credits include Bad Education – where he rose to fame – and I Hate Suzie.
In an interview with Sky Bingo Brendan said: “I don’t think you can compare Ellie and Layton, one is a professional performer and one is learning to dance.
“I was surprised she got the 10 from Motsi, good for her, it’s always nice to receive a 10 and get a little boost. It was a great number, very powerful with great lighting.
He continued: “Paso’s [Pasodoble] are always powerful and dramatic and when you get certain dances that are powerful and dramatic and if you pull them off they look great.
“They started standing up on the platform, with massive lighting and a big skirt, he’s [Vita Coppola] wrapping around her dancing with her skirt while she is standing still.
“It looks fantastic, but the reality is she’s standing there holding the skirt out. Once she started dancing it was a good number, it wasn’t brilliant, but it was a good number.”