‘Awful and unnecessary!’ — Brendan Cole slams BBC’s ‘disgraceful’ Alex Kingston move as fans side with him in Strictly row

Brendan questioned why production thought it was a ‘great idea’
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Strictly star Brendan Cole has slammed Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe’s song choice last weekend in an exclusive interview with our sister site Entertainment Daily.

On Saturday (November 1), the pair performed a salsa to Horny by Hot ‘N’ Juicy and Mousse T during Halloween Week. On the night, they received an impressive score of 35, placing joint third on the leaderboard.

The following evening, they were saved by the public and avoided the dreaded dance-off. However, Brendan wasn’t completely impressed by their performance.
Brendan admitted he wasn’t a fan of Alex and Johannes’ song choice (Credit: ITV)

Strictly star Brendan Cole slams Alex Kingston performance

Speaking on behalf of Sky Vegas, Brendan told ED!: “Honestly, decisions are being made that I wouldn’t make if I were in charge – but that’s the beauty of the show. If I ran it, it probably wouldn’t exist anymore because I’m not as talented as the producers!”

He then slammed the song choice for Alex and Johannes’ dance, expressing: “But that song for Alex [Kingston] and Johannes [Radebe]? I mean, Alex is 62 years old. I don’t even want to see a 35-year-old dancing to a song that says, ‘I’m horny, horny, horny,’ let alone someone in their sixties. And I say that as a man pushing 50 – I wouldn’t want to dance to that either! It’s just not nice. It’s supposed to be a family show.”

Brendan questioned why the couple “said yes” and why the production team thought it was a “great idea”, stating: “It was awful.”

He continued: “That’s the shame, because she’s still a potential winner in my eyes. But that song? ‘Horny’ has no place on Strictly. Let’s keep a bit of mystery in the ‘Strictly curse’ locker room instead of spelling it out.”
Alex and Johannes avoided the dance-off (Credit: BBC)

‘She could go home’

Now that we are nearly halfway through the competition, Brendan admitted it is “hard to predict” who will make this year’s final.

“There are five or six who all have the capability,” he said. However, he can see Katya Jones and Lewis Cope holding up the Glitterball Trophy: “You’ve got your exceptional ones – Lewis and Katya will be there for sure, and I’d be confident they’re going to win it.”

“I still like Alex and Johannes as potential finalists, maybe even winners. People love an underdog story, and they could sneak through under the radar. I’d also say Amber [Davies] and Nikita [Kuzmin] are up there too, although she’s not especially popular since she’s already been in the dance-off,” Brendan added.

“If she ends up there again against someone strong, she could go home. But those three – Lewis, Alex, and Amber – feel like the real front-runners to me.”

Read more: Strictly star Ellie Goldstein’s future ‘revealed’ as she breaks silence on exit