Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Ola Jordan has identified Shaun-Wright Phillips as the "weakest link" in the 2026 series, following the opening live show.
The first live episode aired on Saturday evening, with John Nellis and Katya Jones topping the leaderboard with 31 points. At the bottom, Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon, Shaun-Wright Phillips and Alexis Warr, and Melanie Walters and Aljaž Škorjanec each received scores of 15.
Ola's assessment of the leaderboard
Speaking through Mecca Bingo, Ola, 43, who appeared on the programme between 2006 and 2015, said: "I think it's too early to read into anything, to be honest."
She added: "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 professional partner
Discussing Shaun, 44, receiving a score of just two from judge Craig Revel Horwood, Ola remarked: "It is hard because you put everything into it."
She continued: "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."
Ola also expressed sympathy for Alexis Warr, Shaun's professional partner, saying: "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. Especially if you get someone who is not as good, you're like, 'Oh', And Alexis, Alexis is so good."
She added: "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.
