Will Best delivered his strongest performance of this series of Strictly Come Dancing on Friday night, yet columnist Adam Miller argues he should be the one to leave the competition this week. The reason is not his dancing but his family: his fiancée Tobi Rose has just given birth to their first child, Sonny.
Miller, writing in Metro, says he had previously tipped Will for the final and even called him one to watch, but has now firmly changed his mind. He admits he is not a parent himself and can only imagine the joy the couple are experiencing, but he is concerned about Will's unrelenting work schedule, which appears to have barely let up.
Jive and tears after a new arrival
Last night, Will closed the show with a jive, arguably the highest-energy dance in the competition, and achieved his best score so far. Before the routine, set to Elton John's Rocket Man and performed in a sequinned outfit, he spoke to pro partner Dianne Buswell, who welcomed her baby with Joe Sugg in March this year. He broke down in tears as he told her: 'You're an inspiration. You are doing all of this, and you've got a baby, and you are clearly the most amazing mum, so I want to try and learn from you.'
What was not shown on Strictly, Miller notes, is that Will has also been hosting Big Brother while training for the jive. On Friday night he joined AJ Odudu for the live eviction until 10.30pm, before having to be up for Strictly on show day.
Too much on his plate
Miller points out that while a mother must by law take at least two weeks off work after giving birth, a father has no legal obligation to do so. He asks whether either show would really have crumbled without Will for a week, though he acknowledges he does not know whether Will was offered time off and turned it down.
He adds that Emma Willis pulled out a miniature violin on the show and joked: 'I got Will this teeny, tiny violin, just in case I ever hear him complain about how tired he is after it was his fiancée that gave birth.' Miller calls it perhaps her finest moment of the series, while agreeing there is no exhaustion that can compare to that of a new mother.
A long overdue moment
Miller understands why Will may have felt he could not walk away. After years in television, he is having his long overdue 'moment': Big Brother has never felt stronger since moving to ITV, and he is on primetime television every Saturday night with fans loving him. Miller says he deserves it all, but asks whether the doors could not have opened next year instead.
He describes Will's jive as electric and in sync with Dianne, and says if there were an award for most improved this series, Will would have won it. He is increasingly confident Will will go very far in the competition, but worries that is not sustainable with a newborn baby. The kindest thing for fans, he suggests, may be to let him leave now to be with Tobi and Sonny, while still believing he could ride the wave of post-Strictly success.
Miller does not think there is a chance Will will be in the dance off tonight, saying he cannot remember a moment with so much love for a contestant in the studio. Whatever happens in the ballroom, he hopes the people around Will are making sure he gets proper time at home with Tobi and Sonny, and that if he ever decides to step back, he is given the grace to do so.
