Strictly Come Dancing 2018: Former star speaks out on rule change ahead of final
STRICTLY COME DANCING has seen a slight amount of controversy this series due to claims that Ashley Roberts is a trained dancer thus is put at an unfair advantage. Now a former star of the show has commented on the possibility of a rule change.
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Arlene was on the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel from 2004 to 2008.
She appeared on This Morning today to discuss the furore surrounding Ashley Roberts, who has been the subject of criticism from some fans of the BBC contest.
Ashley was formally part of dance troupe the Pussycat Dolls and so they have said she may have an unfair advantage over other competitors.
Arlene appeared on This Morning today where she spoke with hosts Phillip Schofield and Rochelle Humes as to whether the rules should be changed.
They’ve always had trained dancers on the show
However, Arlene made it clear she didn’t think it was wrong for Ashley to be in the competition.
The 75-year-old pointed to the show’s civilian spin-off, Strictly Dance Fever, to make her point.
She explained: “When I did Strictly Dance Fever, which Graham Norton hosted, the criteria was they could not have earned any money as a dancer.
“If you’re an amateur dancer then you could be on the programme. If you do that with celebrities then you’re going to discount a lot of people.”
Arlene also added that trained dancers had always been in the programme as contestants.
“They’ve always had trained dancers on the show. Rachel Stevens was brilliant and others have been," she explained.
“The thing about ashley is because the Pussycat Dolls were a dance pop group people know her as a dancer.”
Arlene elaborated on why ballroom was different as she said: “Look, the thing about ballroom is, it’s like baking, you have to be accurate.”
She continued: “They [celebrities] are not trained in finite detail.
“She just happens to be an exquisite dancer.”
Despite receiving consistently high scores throughout the competition, Ashley has found herself in the dance off three times.
However, the judges have opted to save her over the other contestant every time.
Ashley will be in Saturday’s final along with Joe Sugg, Stacey Dooley and Faye Tozer.
The final vote is entirely up to the viewing public.
Viewers will have to wait and see if Ashley manages to win them over or not.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One, This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.