Angela Rippon shares real reason for near fall during dance-off as co-star defends spot in contest
Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington perform the Paso Doble
BBC
Angela Rippon has addressed the circumstances surrounding her near fall during her dance-off on Strictly this past weekend.
Dancing the Paso Doble with partner Kai Widdrington, Rippon suffered a near fall on Sunday night which she blamed on a “slippery floor”.
Quizzed on the dance-off by host Fleur East, Rippon was asked: “Did you think it was all over?”
WATCH HERE: Kai Widdrington says Rippon 'deserves' to be in Blackpool amid 'fix' claims
She replied: “No I didn’t, I mean I don’t know why (I nearly slipped). I think the floor was slippery or my shoe was slippery and it just went, but no I didn’t.
“I mean Kai sort of still had hold of me and I just knew what I had to do next and managed to do it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Widdrington weighed in to defend their spot in the competition despite some disgruntled fans' "fix" claims.
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Angela Rippon has opened up about her dance-off experience
BBC
Widdrington echoed Rippon's view that she'd stay in the contest as he weighed in: "(I was) confident because Angela's been there before, we did it the week before.
"There was no way on earth I was letting go of her if the foot slipped, if it completely fell off the floor I wasn't letting go of her."
Defending their spot in the competition, he signed off to It Takes Two host Fleur East: "We did enough, we had a good score.
"I think you deserved your place at Blackpool."
Having cleared the dance-off, Rippon will be heading to Blackpool week at the Tower Ballroom.
The 79-year-old English Television journalist came under fire after sending home Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy in her second dance off of the series
BBC
Rippon will perform an American Smooth to Tea for Two by Ella Fitzgerald on Saturday night.
However, the announcement also sparked comments from fans who accused the show of never giving the Strictly star any fast dances.
One viewer wrote on social media: “Anyone else fed up that Angela R is getting all the ballroom dances and hasn’t been tested as much as the other celebs? It’s such a fix!”
One more added: “Yet another slow dance for Angela R this week...American Smooth. How come she's avoided all the fast Latin dances??
“Oh well, she's got to Blackpool as planned...so hopefully she'll go out this week.”