BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood delivers brutal blow to celebrities

Strictly Come Dancing's forthright judge Craig Revel Horwood delivered a blow to the contestants in Friday's edition of It Takes Two.

Craig, 59, engaged in lively banter with host Fleur East about Pete Wicks and his dance partner Jowita Przystal, who found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard last weekend. "Oh I love Pete! He's low scoring but he's adorable!" declared Craig.

When probed by Fleur whether Pete has what it takes to go the distance, Craig bluntly said, "No!" but was quick to elaborate, "Well, that I have to say, is up to him. I think he's really really good and another person who is committed."

Craig went on to express his hopes for Pete's progression: "I would love him to be a better dancer and in time, if he stays in, I think in another couple of weeks if he can get to Blackpool, for instance, I think that might give him more confidence and a very good reason to fly through the competition. He's great but he's up against a lot of good people."

Regarding Tasha Ghouri and her professional partner Aljaz Skorjanec, who scored an impressive 39 points for their emotional couple's choice routine to P!nk's What About Us, Craig drew attention as the only judge who abstained from giving a perfect 10, opting instead for a nine, reports the Mirror.

As the clock ticked down, Fleur pressed: "Quickly, we need to know Craig because we've run out of time, we need to know Tasha and Aljaz, what does she need to do to get a perfect score from you?"

Craig didn't mince his words when he said: "Be better, she just needs to be better!" leaving host Fleur absolutely gobsmacked as she responded: "Be better? Oh wow!"

He quickly clarified his stance: "No she's fantastic it's just each time I'm looking for, I mean I'm not looking for 'perfection' perfection, I'm looking for something where I put my pen down and I stop judging and I'm involved in that entire dance from beginning, middle and end. I mean it is tough" with Fleur light-heartedly retorting: "Alright, Craig, you just want too much!"

In another part of the conversation, Craig stood by his decision to give Chris McCausland low scores. Over the weekend, Chris, aged 47, and his dance partner Dianne Buswell, aged 35, delivered a Tango to KISS' Rock and Roll All Nite, but despite their efforts, they scored only 29 points, placing them near the bottom of the leaderboard.

When Fleur probed: "On average, you score Chris six points, now for someone who is the favourite for the final. Why the low scores Craig? " Craig seemed surprised and asked: "Do I? " He then elaborated: "He still needs to work on a lot of things! I think people at home are falling in love with him, which is absolutely fine, but technically his frame is not great."

"He has improved, don't get me wrong, but there's still work to do on his frame, his shoulders keep raising, and his posture needs improvement. There's still a lot of work to do."

Strictly: It Takes Two is on BBC Two weeknights at 6.30pm