An alleged audience member at Strictly Come Dancing 2026's second live show has claimed on Reddit that professional dancer Johannes Radebe repeatedly fluffed his teleprompter lines during the pre-recorded results show, adding significant time to interviews due to retakes.
The 2026 series, the first without long-standing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, has faced criticism from fans. The new presenting trio of Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis, and Johannes Radebe has come under scrutiny, but the Reddit user singled out Johannes as the biggest letdown for studio viewers.
Audience member's account
The Strictly fan, posting on Monday morning, shared their experience of the second live show, which saw Melanie Walters become the second celebrity eliminated alongside her partner Aljaz Skorjanec. Despite online backlash against Josh and Emma, the viewer claimed Josh was 'much funnier in person' and both were 'pretty solid in terms of their presenting duties'.
However, Johannes was reportedly 'constantly messing up his lines' during the results show, which is filmed on Saturday night immediately after the main show. The poster detailed: "Johannes was by far the biggest offender for repeatedly fluffing his autocue lines, which massively extended the duration of the interviews he and Josh conducted upstairs, as they were forced to reshoot take after take."
Retakes and technical blunders
The user also described several technical errors leading to retakes among the professional dancers. They noted that when Katya revealed the song for next week, the music failed to start, requiring a reshoot. Diane was said to have struggled to remember Elton John's name, leading to three or four takes. A spoon continuity issue with Vito's tiramisu also caused a reshoot.
The recording was expected to finish around 23:15, but constant retakes delayed the audience's departure until just after midnight. The poster added: "It was pretty exhausting towards the end but I had a fun time. Also, the musical act, Jalen Ngonda, was awesome."
Elimination details
During Saturday's show, Melanie and Aljaz performed a Charleston to Ooh Ahh... Just A Little Bit by Gina G, scoring 17. Judge Craig Revel Horwood admitted he "didn't love" the routine, while Motsi Mabuse urged her to "keep going". The judges decided to eliminate the duo after they landed in the bottom two.
Melanie told Emma Willis: "To be honest, no truth of a lie, I thought I was going to be out last week." Aljaz praised her as the "ultimate professional", saying: "You showed me what hard work really is and what it means."
On Instagram, Melanie wrote: "So sorry to be leaving the show. Huge thanks for all your support. All the luck and love to my fellow remaining contestants, and the biggest thanks of all to the beautiful soul and amazing teacher, @aljazskorjanec. Love you! It's been a blast."
In the dance-off, they faced ex-footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips and his partner Alexis Warr, who had scored 15 for their quickstep. While Mabuse voted to save Walters, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, and Revel Horwood all voted to save Wright-Phillips and Warr. The ousted couple will appear on It Takes Two on Monday.
