Amy Dowden has responded to former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole after he made disparaging comments about the dancer following her elimination from this year's series.
Amy was partnered with celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton but was the first couple to be eliminated after the public vote and dance-off. It was the second consecutive early exit for Amy, who was also first out last year with former The Apprentice star Thomas Skinner.
Brendan Cole's criticism
Following the elimination, Brendan said: “To be a pro on Strictly is a big job and one has to be up to the challenge. Amy has not been up to the challenge, in my opinion.”
He continued: “I don’t think Amy’s been doing a very good job for the last few years and she’s been out first for the last few years. One can do the maths on that.” Brendan also claimed he could see Amy “counting in” her partners, a sign to him the “job has not been done”.
Amy's response
After the comments were first published, Amy seemingly responded on TikTok with a lip-syncing video to Mariah Carey’s track Obsessed, captioned: "If you know you know".
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, she said: "I’ll be honest, what do you expect from him? It’s fine. I’ve never been brought up to be personal, and in this day and age especially I think it’s so important to be kind, and to think about the next generation."
She added: "I always try to use my platform in the right way. I work with various charities. But also I want to be the right kind of role model. I run a dance academy and all my little boys and girls really look up to me. That’s important."
