Strictly Come Dancing professional Jowita Przystał has defended partner Lawrence Robb after their jive performance last weekend, describing his recovery from a mid-routine mistake as a "massive improvement."
The pair danced to a mash-up of Fatboy Slim's The Rockafeller Skank and The Knack's My Sharona, scoring 19 points. The judges' feedback was largely critical, with Craig Revel Horwood calling the routine "flat-footed and out-of-time" and saying it "wasn't for me." Shirley Ballas told the couple: "You can't be making too many mistakes, but some good things in there, so be proud."
Jowita Praises Lawrence's Recovery
Appearing on It Takes Two on Wednesday (October 28), Jowita spoke to host Ellie Taylor about the performance. She said: "I think he [Lawrence] executed it very well."
"Yes, we had a tiny little hiccup there. But for me, the most important thing is that he didn't give up," she added. "And I didn't even notice when we were dancing."
Jowita explained that the moment marked a significant step forward for the Emmerdale star, noting that in training he would usually freeze after making a mistake.
"So, for me, it's a massive improvement and step up, because normally, in the training room, when he makes a mistake, he just freezes and he doesn't continue," she said.
Live TV Pressure
She continued: "Seeing him, pretending, like, nothing happened, nothing readable on his face, he kept going to the end with the energy, with the fun, for me, I'm actually happy that this happened."
"Because also it proved him that no matter what, he can still do it, he can keep going. And it's live TV, it's so stressful. He's dancing, he's out of his comfort zone every week, learning new dance, uh, for the first time ever."
Fan Reaction to Scoring
Viewers also voiced frustration over the couple's score, with some calling it "ridiculously harsh." One fan wrote on X: "just me that didn't think Lawrence was THAT bad??"
A second added: "That was ridiculously harsh on Lawrence." A third commented: "I genuinely didn't see that mistake Lawrence did? Am I blind?"
However, another viewer offered a different view, writing: "100% respect that Lawrence is really trying and giving his all. That jive wasn't great though - it's fitting the clocks are going back tonight because his kicks and flicks were in a different time zone to Jowita's."
Strictly Come Dancing airs every weekend on BBC One and iPlayer.
