Brendan Cole caused tension on Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday when he disputed head judge Shirley Ballas’ comments toward his dance.
The professional dancer took to the dance floor with Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins to perform a Tango inspired by ‘Top Gun’ as part of the BBC Latin and ballroom dance competition’s movie week.
And despite giving what he believed was a solid performance, he was shocked to find that head judge Shirley disagreed.
Supporting Charlotte: Brendan Cole caused tension on Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday when he disputed head judge Shirley Ballas’ comments toward his dance
When the 57-year-old Queen of Latin told the duo there shouldn’t be any rise and fall in the Tango, Brendan was quick to step in and tell her she was mistaken, as he was adamant her comments were false.
Giving them a rather scathing review, Shirley said of Charlotte: ‘She needs to stand on her own feet and we’ve established that there’s no rise and fall in Tango. So we’ve got to make a concrete decision not to use rise and fall. So no rise and fall.’
But Brendan, holding an emotional Charlotte supportively, argued: ‘There was no rise and fall in that whatsoever.’
Shirley then hit back with: ‘Well, there is, Brendan. You should play it back and see.’
‘I think Shirley’s right, you should be more respectful,’ Bruno chided, joining the spat
Not convinced, Brendan fired back: ‘I will my dear, I will. There was no rise and fall.’
But then fellow judge Bruno Tonioli stepped in to agree with Shirley, adding to the tension.
‘I’m not an expert, I’ve only done about 500 shows but I think Shirley’s right, you should be more respectful,’ he chided.
Pledging his respect to her, Brendan explained: ‘I do respect her but I just don’t agree’.
And the exchange appeared to leave a deflated Charlotte emotional, as she looked on the edge of tears.
‘She needs to stand on her own feet and we’ve established that there’s no rise and fall in Tango’, Shirley snapped at the couple earlier
Charlotte, 42, and Brendan scored a total of 17 for their Tango, which was significantly better than their salsa from last week’s show, which was riddled with mistakes and scored them just 12 points.
Last weekend’s show saw Debbie McGee soar to the top of the leader board, while Holby City actress Chizzy Akudolu was first to be voted off.
And the second week of eliminations centred around a movie-themed night of dancing, presented by Tess Daly, 48, who cut a glamorous figure in a gold floor-length dress, alongside a chic Claudia Winkleman, 45.
Judged by panelists Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli, the show kicked off with the whole cast performing a musical tribute to La La Land.
Sizzling: The second week of eliminations centred around a movie-themed night of dancing, presented by Tess Daly, 48, who cut a glamorous figure in a gold floor-length dress, alongside a chic Claudia Winkleman, 45
Making the most of her statuesque figure, Tess’ elegant frock skimmed her long and lean physique, and she teamed it with a pair of killer heels.
Wearing her hair in classic golden waves, the mother-of-two beamed as she took to the stage alongside raven-haired beauty Claudia.
Claudia complimented her co-presenter perfectly, opting for a classic black off-the-shoulder ensemble.
The show kicked off with the contestants introducing the hotly-anticipated dance-off with a musical-style intro, paying tribute to recent musical film La La Land with a group performance.
Power pair: Tess’ elegant frock skimmed her long and lean physique while Claudia complimented her co-presenter perfectly, opting for a classic black off-the-shoulder ensemble
Judging panel: Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli
First to perform were Simon Rimmer and Karen Clifton, who danced the Quickstep to You’ve Got A Friend In Me from Toy Story.
Dressed as the Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, the duo put on a cheery performance to the cheers of the crowd, adding comedy value to the show.
And their performance impressed, with Shirley stating: ‘You have one of the best frames in the competition when you try!’.
The duo scored 19 out of 40, the same figure they achieved last week.
Ruth Langsford and Anton Du Beke were up next, dancing the Rumba to Diamonds Are Forever.
‘I hope Eammon is going to be okay with us spending all this time together,’ Ruth joked of her husband Holmes.
And not to be left out, husband Eammon Holmes brought a cardboard cut-out and joined the rehearsing couple in their practice.
And their rehearsals- helped by Eamonn clearly paid off.
Putting on a racy display in a dazzling sequin dress slashed to the thigh as they eventually performed the long-awaited sensual dance on Saturday night’s show.
‘I’ve cried,’ Ruth admitted after the performance, and the judges scored them a modest score of 15- with Bruno claiming her ‘hips needed defrosting’.
‘I felt fabulous like I haven’t in years’, Anton cut in, defending her performance as her proud son looked on.
Lightyears ahead! Simon Rimmer and Karen Clifton, who danced the Quickstep to You’ve Got A Friend In Me from Toy Story
Next in Line were Mollie King and AJ Pritchard, who danced the American Smooth to Climb Every Mountain from The Sound Of Music after impressing with their tango last week.
And their performance went down a storm, scoring an impressive 30- their highest score so far.
A dramatically dressed Reverend Richard Coles and Dianne Buswell were up next, dancing the Paso Doble to Flash’s Theme from Flash Gordon.
‘A Paso Doble that took an alien form’, Bruno joked about the dramatic display, while Craig described him as ‘stamping around like a 3-year-old’ and questioned his’ weird hand shapes’, much to the audience’s rage.
Delighted!Mollie King and AJ Pritchard, who danced the American Smooth to Climb Every Mountain from The Sound Of Music after impressing with their tango last week
Despite being marginally entertaining, the performance sadly only won them a disappointing 14.
Woman of the moment Debbie McGee was up next, dancing the Quickstep to Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off from Shall We Dance with Giovanni Pernice.
Landing top of the leaderboard last weekend, the duo had a lot to live up to.
Channelling Hollywood siren, they put on a smooth appearance to a clapping crowd, landing 29 (their lowest so far) from an impressed panel- as Darcey exclaimed ‘I’m loving you!’.
Red hot! A dramatically dressed Reverend Richard Coles and Dianne Buswell were up next, dancing the Paso Doble to Flash’s Theme from Flash Gordon
Brian Conley & Amy Dowden danced the American Smooth to If I Only Had A Brain from The Wizard Of Oz next, dressed as Dorothy and The Scarecrow.
Brian managed to wish former Strictly contestant Chizzy a happy birthday, before the couple were scored 22 out of 40- their highest so far.
Next up was Gemma Atkinson- who has been the subject of romance rumours with dancer Gorka- and Aljaž Škorjanec who danced the Charleston to The Bare Necessities from The Jungle Book.
The pair put on a cuddly display dressed as bears, and won a standing ovation from the crowd, scoring a cool 31- the highest of the night so far and landing them top of the leaderboard.
Chemistry: Their performance went down a storm, scoring an impressive 30
After a tough show last weekend, Charlotte Hawkins and Brendan Cole were up next, dancing the Tango to Danger Zone from Top Gun.
The duo put on a dazzling display, despite Brendan suffering a small slip, and the judges noticed the difference, but scored them just 17- causing Charlotte to become emotional.
And the verdict caused a little spat, after judge Shirley accused them of introducing a ‘rise and fall’ to the tango, with Brendan biting back that there wasn’t one.
‘Watch it back then’, Shirley sniped as he shook his head in protest.
Co-judge Bruno then jumped him, reprimanding him for ‘not respecting a lady’s opinion, with Brendan replying: ‘I always respect a lady, I just don’t agree and Charlotte did amazingly’.
Steering the ship into calmer waters were Jonnie Peacock and Oti Mabusem who danced the Paso Doble to The Raiders March from Indiana Jones and landed a score of 26.
Joe McFadden and Katya Jones danced the Viennese Waltz to Somewhere My Love from Doctor Zhivago next, scoring 32- and newly topping the leaderboard.
Susan Calman- watched by proud wife sporting a Wonderwoman crown, and Kevin Clifton followed, dancing the Samba to the theme from Wonder Woman.
Thrilled with her own performance, Susan planted a huge smacker on Craig’s cheek, surprising the stern judge with the lipstick mark.
And the cheeky move may have helped, with the duo scoring a cool 20.
Dressed as trolls, Aston Merrygold and Janette Manrara danced the Cha Cha to Can’t Stop The Feeling from Trolls.
Despite getting a touch of glitter in his eye, Aston impressed the judges and scored 35- smashing the night’s scores and landing top of the leaderboard (so far Alexandra’s score of 36 last week was top of the competition).
Up next were Alexandra Burke & Gorka Marquez, who received top marks last Saturday landing the overall second on the leaderboard, dancing the American Smooth to Wouldn’t It Be Loverly from My Fair Lady.
Branding her ‘one to watch’, the thrilled panel scored them with 33, landing them second of the leaderboard.
Last but not least were Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkovawill, who danced a dramatic Samba to Stayin’ Alive from Saturday Night Fever.
Davood even jumped on the judges’ table- much to their surprise, with Bruno exclaiming it looked as though he had a ‘ferret in his trousers’.
And his cheeky move appeared to do the trick, with the duo closing the night with a score of 25.
Finishing top of the leaderboard was Aston with a score of 35, and Reverend Richard Coles landed bottom with 14. Sunday’s show will see the second eviction of season 17.