Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Joanne Clifton has questioned whether judging rules are being followed consistently, pointing to illegal lifts and a lack of hold time in recent performances. Speaking on the At Home With Vanessa podcast, Clifton – who won the show with Ore Oduba in 2016 – said she agreed with some of the points made by former pro Erin Boag about this year's series.
Clifton said: "I don't know whether it's just that we're the old guard, she's obviously an older guard than me, but I still feel like I am of the old era, because it was 10 years ago now." She went on to question whether the rules still apply, saying: "I don't know, I think, without sounding like grumpy old Len [Goodman], where's the rules? That's my big thing, where are the rules? Like literally we had three couples that did illegal lifts, it wasn't mentioned."
Viennese Waltz under scrutiny
Clifton claimed that some contestants were not in hold or performing the required content, which was mentioned for two couples but not a third. She named Carlos Gu and Jaime Winstone as the couple she believed performed a Viennese Waltz with less than a third of the music in hold.
She explained: "They did less than a third of the music because you can count, one, two, three is one second and they do 90 seconds, they did less than 30 seconds in hold but they got praised for it." Clifton stressed she did not blame the contestants, adding: "I'm not blaming them because, at the end of the day, if the rules have somewhere down the line gone out the window, nobody mentions them anymore. If your celebrity isn't good in hold, I'd do the same, let's keep them out of hold, no one mentions it, let's keep them out of hold."
Rules and entertainment balance
Asked about Ballroom rules, Clifton said that in professional competitions, dancers remain in hold from the start of the music and only break away for an American Smooth or Ballroom show dance. She acknowledged that enforcing the rules could make performances seem "boring", given that Strictly is primarily an entertainment show, but argued that maintaining hold is important for showing contestants' progress week to week.
Clifton was a professional dancer on Strictly from 2014 to 2016. Her brother, Kevin Clifton, was a pro from 2013 to 2019 and won the Glitterball Trophy in 2018 with Stacey Dooley. Express.co.uk has contacted a representative for Strictly for comment. Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One.
