New Strictly Come Dancing professional Maddie Ingoldsby has addressed the judges' "harsh" comments on her first ballroom routine with celebrity partner Cach Mercer.
Love Island champion Cach performed a Quickstep to Bruno Mars' song I Just Might with Maddie on Saturday night (September 26). The audience enjoyed the routine, but the judges felt the dance moved too far from traditional Quickstep movements.
Judges' Feedback Sparks Viewer Backlash
Craig Revel Horwood said: "Too much freestyle for me. You're a great freestyle dancer, that is a fact, we know that. We don't need to see that here in a Quickstep. The whole point of this is that you're learning a new genre of dance, so I'm finding it hard to judge that."
Shirley Ballas agreed, saying: "This was more what we would see in a street dance, which is coming, you're gonna get that." The comments prompted backlash from viewers who considered them too "harsh" for the first week.
Maddie Defends Her Choreography
Days after the routine scored 20 points, Maddie addressed the feedback on the latest episode of Strictly: It Takes Two on Tuesday (September 29). Host Ellie Taylor asked: "On Saturday, Maddie, you were chucked in at the deep end. You got a lot of heat from Craig about your Quickstep choreography, which I absolutely loved. Do you still stand by it? Do you wish you'd done things differently?"
Maddie replied: "You know, I think because it was the first week as well, and, like I said on Saturday, when we were at the rehearsals, [Cach] would just stand in the corner and just freestyle. And I was watching it and was like, 'He's musically incredible, he's amazing.'"
She added: "And I think because that's the way that he expresses himself, that's how he feels when he dances. I think it was such a lovely way to introduce him and for the audience to see who he is and what he originally does for himself. I also think the freestyle that he does is so incredibly amazing, it's so hard as well. I don't think it's a little TikTok dance, I think it takes a lot of built up courage. It comes really from the soul as well. I'm very happy that I got the audience to really see Cach for who he was in the first week."
Viewers shared their reactions on X, with one person writing: "Loved that explanation from Maddie as to why she let Cach freestyle on Saturday."
Craig Explains His Low Score
Earlier in the show, Craig Revel Horwood explained why he scored the routine so low. He told Ellie Taylor: "I wanted to see just a little bit more in hold and I think once you've mastered that, then you have the capacity [to] break away from it. But I would really, on the first show, really like to see the technique."
He added: "I am in favour of people breaking the rules, in fact, I encourage it, darling. But you do actually have to get the steps right first, the style right first, before you then go and change it. [Cach] is immaculate. I personally loved, loved, loved the routine, and I encourage that sort of stuff further on in the competition. He's a wonderfully talented dancer and he's brilliant."
Strictly Come Dancing and Strictly: It Takes Two are both available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
