Strictly Come Dancing pro defends Lacey Turner after tense exchange with judges

As the judges gave their feedback to Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola on their Foxtrot to Have You Met Miss Jones? by Robbie Williams, it led to a tense exchange on Strictly Come Dancing.

During this week's episode, Anton Du Beke gave his feedback first and called the dance a "thing of beauty", but said it looked like an American Smooth, rather than a Foxtrot, and that "the Foxtrot bit was the weakest part of the dance".

Craig Revel Horwood then added: "Yeah, Anton's absolutely right, it wasn't a Foxtrot, so I don't know how we're meant to judge it."

He continued: "Foxtrot is not an open dance. You could have saved this for an American Smooth, you know what I'm saying?"

Vito responded to the criticism, saying: "The rule says that 70% should be Foxtrot, so the 30% is open. So, literally, I didn't break the rules."

As Craig started to argue back, Vito said that he respects Craig's opinion and that he takes "full responsibility", because he created the choreography.

"You don't have anything to worry about," Vito told Lacey, before saying she had been "amazing", and adding: "You are beautiful and I am so, so proud of you."

Later, speaking with Johannes, Vito once again said it was the professional dancers' responsibility when it comes to the choreography, adding that he respects all of the judges "so, so much" and that Lacey had been "amazing".

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Ultimately, the couple scored 27, landing them joint bottom of the leaderboard along with Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley and Will Best and Dianne Buswell.

It wasn't the only complaint the judges had with the professional dancers during tonight's show, as Craig also accused Nikita Kuzmin of created a dance which was "littered with illegal lifts".

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays weekly on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Authors

James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.