Ola Jordan left Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, and said that the BBC judges are now ‘too nice’ and should be replaced in order to ‘refresh’ the show

Strictly Come Dancing star Ola Jordan, 42, didn’t hide her feelings when speaking about how the show’s doing without her.

Ballroom pro Ola left the BBC series in 2015, after nine years of dancing on the show and securing one big win. The I’m a Celebrity alum hasn’t stopped watching Strictly, and said after this year’s innings that the judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, and Anton Du Beke – weren’t being harsh enough.

“Maybe they need to refresh. Strictly is an amazing show. It’s an amazing family show. Everyone loves it. From grandparents to kids, everyone can watch it together. It’s nice because as a family you can all enjoy something on the show,” she told Mecca Bingo. “I just think people could be getting a bit bored of it in some way. It is very samey and nice. With the judges, all the comments are really positive, but not everyone is good, so you’ve got to give some negative, constructive feedback.”

The pro dancer slammed Strictly judges for being too nice to contestants, and said ‘bored’ viewers at home knew better ( 
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Ola then singled out Craig, who used to be known for his ruthless judging before toning things down. She said: “I feel like Craig’s lost his sparkle. People loved Craig for what he was before. He would say it as it is, saying he wasn’t good, that was rubbish, but it’s almost like he’s got to say a positive now. He’s obviously been told they’ve got to be positive and that they don’t want any negativity in the show and that comes from producers, but they need to look at what the public wants really. It’s too nicey nicey.”

The dancer even suggested rotating guest judges for more excitement, suggesting: “What needs changing to refresh the show? Put a different judge on there, just spice it up a bit because we know what they all say. They’re all the same every year, so maybe they need a new judge – someone with a bit more spice on the panel. You could even have a different guest judge every week.”

“It needs to be someone that won’t come in and say ‘You are amazing. That was amazing. Oh, that was brilliant. Oh, that was great.’ We need someone who will say the truth and say ‘No, listen well done for coming out and giving your all, but come on, let’s face it, that was a bit rubbish, wasn’t it? You forgot half of the routine. You messed up here. You messed up there. Well, come back next week and do a great job. But let’s face it, they’re not all good, I know they need to give some positivity to some people, but it’s too nicey nicey for me.”

Ola married fellow dancer and Celebrity Big Brother contestant James Jordan in 2003, and hinted that they’d be up for the task of taking over judging. She shared: “I think the judges are great. Don’t get me wrong, Shirley is one of the most known people in our business. She knows what she’s talking about. She’s got the knowledge more than anyone on the panel. She’s an amazing teacher. She’s an amazing judge. But I think of the role when you look at the panel, they need to be a bit more truthful. If they want honesty and would ever do a double chair, James and I are here.”

“I think people just get bored of that because I do see what people say on social media, people say they fast-forward the judges because everyone is saying everything is amazing when it’s not. People have seen the show for twenty years now, so people can see when it’s not good.”