Strictly Come Dancing professional Jowita Przystał has spoken out in defence of her celebrity partner, Emmerdale actor Lawrence Robb, after their weekend routine faced a difficult judges' critique.
The pair performed a jive to a mash-up of Fatboy Slim's The Rockafeller Skank and The Knack's My Sharona, receiving just 19 points. The judges' feedback was notably critical.
'Flat-Footed and Out-of-Time' Critique
Craig Revel Horwood said the performance "wasn't for me" and branded it "flat-footed and out-of-time". Shirley Ballas offered a mixed assessment, noting: "You can't be making too many mistakes, but some good things in there, so be proud."
During Wednesday's (October 28) episode of It Takes Two, Jowita discussed the performance with presenter Ellie Taylor. She remarked: "I think he [Lawrence] executed it very well."
Przystał Praises Robb's Resilience
"Yes, we had a tiny little hiccup there. But for me, the most important thing is that he didn't give up," Jowita said. She added: "And I didn't even notice when we were dancing."
"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. 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."
She continued: "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."
Viewers Question the Scores
Many viewers voiced frustration over Lawrence's scores, arguing they were "ridiculously harsh". On X, one person wrote: "just me that didn't think Lawrence was THAT bad? ?"
A second remarked: "That was ridiculously harsh on Lawrence." A third chimed in: "I genuinely didn't see that mistake Lawrence did? Am I blind?"
Despite this, one Strictly viewer offered a different view: "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.
