Strictly Come Dancing professional Maddie Ingoldsby has defended her debut choreography with celebrity partner Cach Mercer after judges criticised the routine for straying too far from traditional Quickstep technique.
The Love Island winner performed a Quickstep to Bruno Mars' I Just Might with Maddie on Saturday evening (September 26). While the audience enjoyed the routine, the panel was less impressed, with Craig Revel Horwood remarking: "Too much freestyle for me. You're a great freestyle dancer, that is a fact, we know that. We don't need to see that here in a Quickstep."
Shirley Ballas agreed, stating: "This was more what we would see in a street dance, which is coming, you're gonna get that."
Maddie responds to the judges
The critique sparked criticism from viewers who felt the remarks were excessively "harsh" for the opening week. Days after the couple received a 20-point score, Maddie addressed the feedback during Tuesday's edition of Strictly: It Takes Two (September 29).
Presenter Ellie Taylor asked: "On Saturday, Maddie, you were chucked in at the deep end. You got a lot of heat from Craig about your Quickstep choreography, which I absolutely loved. Do you still stand by it? Do you wish you'd done things differently?"
Maddie responded: "You know, I think because it was the first week as well, and, like I said on Saturday, when we were at the rehearsals, [Cach] would just stand in the corner and just freestyle. And I was watching it and was like, 'He's musically incredible, he's amazing.'"
Why she kept the freestyle
She continued: "And I think because that's the way that he expresses himself, that's how he feels when he dances. I think it was such a lovely way to introduce him and for the audience to see who he is and what he originally does for himself."
"I also think the freestyle that he does is so incredibly amazing, it's so hard as well. I don't think it's a little TikTok dance, I think it takes a lot of built up courage. It comes really from the soul as well. I'm very happy that I got the audience to really see Cach for who he was in the first week."
Viewers voiced their support on X, with one person writing: "Loved that explanation from Maddie as to why she let Cach freestyle on Saturday."
Craig clarifies his feedback
Earlier in the programme, Craig Revel Horwood explained why he gave the routine a low score. He told Ellie Taylor: "I wanted to see just a little bit more in hold and I think once you've mastered that, then you have the capacity [to] break away from it. But I would really, on the first show, really like to see the technique."
He added: "I am in favour of people breaking the rules, in fact, I encourage it, darling. But you do actually have to get the steps right first, the style right first, before you then go and change it. [Cach] is immaculate. I personally loved, loved, loved the routine, and I encourage that sort of stuff further on in the competition. He's a wonderfully talented dancer and he's brilliant."
Strictly Come Dancing and Strictly: It Takes Two are both available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
