James Jordan has doubled down on his critiques of Ellie Simmonds, claiming the Strictly Come Dancing judges have been unfairly lenient on her.
On Saturday, Ellie, 27, made history as the first person with dwarfism to compete on the BBC show, scoring a respectable 26 points out of 40 for her Cha Cha Cha with Nikita Kuzmin.
Yet as he live tweeted along the show, former Strictly pro James, 44, claimed that while he’d enjoyed the performance he didn’t think the Paralympian was extending her legs enough.
Fans were quick to hit back at James as they pointed out that one of the common symptoms is bow legs, which would hamper the 4ft swimmer on the dance floor.
Speaking out: James Jordan has doubled down on his critiques of Ellie Simmonds, claiming the Strictly Come Dancing judges have been unfairly lenient on her
Yet James defended his comments as he appeared on Steph’s Packed Lunch, insisting that he was just critiquing her in the same way as the other dances and accusing the judges of not doing the same.
Appearing on video link with wife Ola and their daughter Ella, two, he explained: ‘I specifically put on there [Twitter] that I can see her dance sometimes with bent legs, I can see her bending her legs.
‘I’m not saying her legs are going to go dead straight, I never said that, but she needs to be consciously thinking about extending her legs. She’s actually bending into it when it should be straight.’
‘This is where it becomes difficult. If you’re going to have someone like that on there… I’m sure Ellie would want to be critiqued – this is just people jumping on the bandwagon…
Looking good: Ellie, 27, made history as the first person with dwarfism to compete on the BBC show, scoring a respectable 26 points out of 40 for her Cha Cha Cha with Nikita Kuzmin
He went on: ‘She is on there representing dwarfism which I think is an amazing thing and actually when I watched her dance, out of everybody’s, I found it really heart-warming.
‘But I’m still going to critique her the same as everybody else and I actually believe the judges didn’t critique her the same as everybody else, and I think that’s a mistake.
‘If you’re going to have these people on there, which I think is great, critique them the same.’
Asked if he regretted his tweets, James insisted: ‘I still stand by it. I meant it with no malice whatsoever and if it’s offended people they’ve chosen to be offended by it.’
MailOnline has contacted a Strictly spokesperson for comment.
Under fire: Former Strictly pro James, 44, claimed that while he’d enjoyed the performance he didn’t think the Paralympian was extending her legs enough in the dance
During Saturday’s show, James had taken to Twitter to pen: ‘Ellie! I bloody loved it! Well done Nikita – a full on routine – great timing and fun.
‘She needs to try and consciously straighten her legs as much as possible. Loved the tricks. BUT she needs to believe in herself now. Apart from that it was great and she’s an inspiration.’
Another tweet read: ‘Ellie. Well done – totally exceeded my expectations. The beginning was better than the end but overall her quality was lovely – she sold it so well.
‘A mistake as soon as she got into hold and footwork wasn’t great – a little trotty at times but well done. Work on frame.’
Defence: Asked if he regretted his tweets, James insisted, ‘I still stand by it. I meant it with no malice whatsoever and if it’s offended people they’ve chosen to be offended by it’
After her performance, Ellie was praised by the judges, with Anton Du Beke, saying: ‘You powered across the floor, you went, “OK, here we go, have some of this.” Your side-by-side work was great, your timing was excellent. It was good.’
Craig Revel Horwood shared ‘I have to agree with Anton, the timing, your attitude, the rhythm, your isolation. It was excellent.’
While Motsi Mabuse added: ‘I absolutely love this team. What I love is this focus, you understand what the dance was about. Allow yourself to enjoy it even more. I loved it.’
James said: ‘I actually believe the judges didn’t critique her the same as everybody else, and I think that’s a mistake’ (L-R Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke)
Ellie previously told how she was the victim of vicious trolling after it was announced she had signed up to star on the show.
She confessed: ‘Some people have said, “How’s the dwarf going to dance?” It’s sad and it does get to you.
‘I asked my professional partner if he was going to be all right with it because I’m small but he was like, “I want to dance with you, I want to try it out”.
‘It’s scary. Yes, I’ll be self-conscious. I’m a woman anyway, I’m different. We all worry about our wobbly bits. I’m not going to be like any other celeb, with that partnership where you can hold each other.’
She added that her bowed legs, smaller steps and shorter arms will mean she has to make adjustments, particularly as her professional partner is much taller.
‘My partner has never danced with an individual with dwarfism before, so we didn’t know how we’d hold each other, how we do the moves… This is so out of my comfort zone’, she confessed.
Yet she hopes her appearance on Strictly will inspire others, as she said: ‘People have reached out to me, it’s been so touching. If I can do it, people watching will be like, ‘We can do it too.’
‘If I had this as a child, watching someone with dwarfism on a dancing show, it would have been amazing. I never thought I’d get the opportunity. I swam in front of millions of people but dancing is different.’
Heartbreaking: Ellie previously told how she was the victim of vicious trolling after it was announced she had signed up to star on the show
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