Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Ola Jordan has shared her verdict on the opening live show of the 2026 series, saying Shaun Wright-Phillips is the weakest link and that she feels "gutted" for pro dancer Alexis Warr.
During Saturday's live show, John Nellis and Katya Jones topped the leaderboard with 31 points. At the other end, Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr, and Melanie Walters and Aljaž Škorjanec all finished bottom with 15 points each.
Ola's assessment of the leaderboard
Speaking via Mecca Bingo, Ola, 43, who appeared on Strictly from 2006 to 2015, said: "I think it's too early to read into anything, to be honest."
"Shaun is the weakest for me. I would put him lower than the others. I would put Shaun lower than the other two girls, if I'm honest. Shaun is probably the weakest link in the competition right now. But I wouldn't look into it just yet."
Sympathy for the professionals
Discussing former footballer Shaun, 44, who received just a two from judge Craig Revel Horwood, Ola said: "It is hard because you put everything into it."
"As a professional, you want to make the routine good. You want them to do the best they possibly can. But sometimes, if they can't dance, you don't know how many hours they could put in that week. Maybe you were limited with the way you were training them, hours wise."
"There's a lot of things that could go into it, but it is quite hard on a professional because every professional in that show wants to do well and every professional in that show wants to win."
Praise for Alexis Warr
Ola added: "Especially if you get someone who is not as good, you're like, 'Oh', And Alexis, Alexis is so good. She was so amazing last year. And I'm a little bit gutted that she got someone that can't really dance and there won't be much help there. And doesn't matter how amazing she is, it's going to be hard for her to go a long way."
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
