Strictly's Dr Punam Krishnan gets emotional after dance
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Ola Jordan has seemingly let slip an upcoming exit from the show, while also predicting which contestant will make it to the final of the BBC One dance competition this year.
The ex-Strictly winner was discussing last weekend's live show, which saw Dr Punam Krishan and her partner Gorka Marquez land at the bottom of the leaderboard.
The pair struggled again in the ballroom last Saturday night (October 19), scoring just 21 points out of 40 for their emotional Viennese waltz routine to Billy Joel's She's Always A Woman To Me.
After the performance, judge Shirley Ballas praised Punam and Gorka's VT, which featured Punam's young son, saying: "You are surprising yourself, and us, with the lovely delightful dancing you are doing. Just need to turn it up a little bit. Beautiful VT and I just think you are a doll."
Meanwhile, Anton Du Beke told Punam to "share" her "beautiful dancing" and to "go strong" with her performance, but Craig Revel Horwood was less impressed, saying the routine "lacked musicality, it lacked energy in the body", reports the Manchester Evening News.
Despite the harsh criticism, Strictly fans rallied around the couple, claiming they were undermarked, and their support paid off as Punam and Gorka made it through to week six of the show's 20th-anniversary series, which airs this Saturday night (October 26).
Ola has revealed her thoughts on why the public keeps saving a certain contestant despite low scores from the judges, explaining to Mecca Bingo: "I think the bottom of the leaderboard very often gets saved. She did an okay job. For me, she was a little bit dragged around the floor by Gorka. She's definitely one of the weakest dancers left in a competition."
She also weighed in on the leaderboard's accuracy, saying, "The leaderboard was right in some respect because you've got Paul, Punam, Pete and Sam in the bottom of the leaderboard, they are all non-dancers. The rest above have had some sort of dance-related training, maybe apart from Chris, but he's very good. The bottom four that are on the leaderboard are really pretty much not dancers."
The former Strictly pro dancer, who graced the dance floor from 2006 to 2015 and clinched victory in 2009, added her candid take: "I think she was just lucky with a good dance, to be honest. I think the next Latin dance she gets; she will be out."
However, Ola didn't hold back on her predictions for the final, expressing optimism about one contestant's chances: "I definitely think Chris [McCausland] is going to go all the way. I think that Chris is very good. His bottom half is amazing, like his footwork and his timing, the Waltz timing was very nice, very crisp and very good. I'm very impressed."
Following Chris and his dance partner Dianne Buswell's latest performance in the renowned ballroom, they danced a stunning waltz to the Liverpool anthem You'll Never Walk Alone. This was a tribute to Chris' cherished home city and football club, leaving the judges needing to regain their composure and viewers emotional.
The judges awarded them 35 out of a possible 40 points, their highest score of the series so far. They were later seen progressing to another week, which will be Strictly's annual Halloween special.
