Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola topped the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard last week with their Charleston, but a body language expert warns the EastEnders star could face a "setback" as the competition enters week seven.
During the Halloween Special on October 31, Lacey, 38, and her professional partner Vito Coppola, 34, clinched the top spot with a score of 36 for their Charleston to Cheryl and Tinie Tempah's hit 'Crazy Stupid Love'.
Expert Warns of 'Duress' Signals
Body language expert Judi James has cautioned Lacey, who played Stacey Slater in the BBC soap, to show Strictly fans she is enjoying her performances. "Lacey is a difficult watch as she tends to exude non-verbal messages of being on the show under duress", Judi said on behalf of Paddy Power Bingo. "During the weekend’s VT we saw her speaking to the camera sitting hunched up into a little ball in a corner as though hiding from a Raptor."
James added: "Her knees were pulled up to chest level, her tone was low and quiet and first she sat with her arms folded over her knees, then she wrapped her hands together crossed at the wrists then bent and clasped. Her smile looked fake as she told us she was 'really looking forward to letting go' and her whole pose shrieked a desire to self-protect and hide."
Charleston Performance Lacked Charm
James noted that after her Charleston, Lacey told host Emma she'd 'Had the best time', but her hands were "strangling the neck of her microphone" as she did so. "Her dance just lacked some of the kind of quirky, cheeky, comic charm of a perfect Charleston," she said, adding that it's the kind of comedy and sense of era acting that Will always manages to inject into his dances.
James explained that Lacey has a good chance of reaching the Strictly final, but she needs to display a softer side. "Lacey deserves to be in the final two with Delta, but her body language is suggesting she really does need to unlock a sense of genuinely playful joyousness and exhilaration in her dances if she's going to beat Delta's intense elegance and old-school ballroom charm," she added.
Week Seven Line-Up and Changes
On Saturday evening, November 7, Lacey will once again be hoping to clinch the top spot as she dances the Rumba to Yellow by Coldplay. There are 10 remaining couples left in Strictly Come Dancing, including Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola, John Nellis and Katya Jones, Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington, Cash Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby, Will Best and Dianne Buswell, Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin, Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu, Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita, and Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley.
Actor Jaime Winstone will not be performing in Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing, says the BBC, as he has a torn abdominal muscle and has been told to rest by doctors. Strictly Come Dancing week seven airs live on Saturday from 6:40pm, while the results show airs Sunday at 7:10pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
