James Jordan gives verdict on Lewis Cope exit as former BBC Strictly star argues 'he was amazing'

The pair, who had been lauded as potential winners early in the series, found themselves in the dreaded dance-off just ahead of this week's semi-finals, along with Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.

The judges unanimously decided to save the latter pair after criticising Lewis and Katya's routine, scoring it highly but declaring it hadn't been Mr Cope's dance.

Speaking to GB News via Freebets.com, the home of new casino sites, where he works as the entertainment betting expert, Mr Jordan shared his view of the situation, which has sparked a strong reaction this week.

Reflecting on the judges' criticisms of Mr Cope's latest dance, he shared: "Was it his best dance? No, I hated the music.

"I felt he was kind of they were given a really bad music choice for that week, and I think that's part of the reason why people didn't pick up the phone, because it didn't really translate when I was watching.

"I didn't enjoy the performance as much as his others, purely because of the music. But that's not their fault.

"If I was judging it, I still look at the quality of dancing, and it was far, far superior to George [Clarke] and Balvinder [Sopal].

"So yes, did Balvinder come out and do her best dance? Yes, she did, but that's the public for to decide if they pick up the phone and vote for them.

"As a judge, your job is to get the leaderboard right. On dancing, Lewis was better than Balvinder and George, and George was better than Balvinder, so mark it accordingly.

"Let the public decide who they loved, if they loved Balvinder because she's come out and done her best dance, that's the whole reason why you have the judges. The judges are kind of confusing.

"The two things the judges are sometimes doing what the public are doing at home, going, 'Oh my God, yeah.'

"Lewis wasn't as good this week, but Balvinder was amazing. But then to put them on the same level.

"Technically, Lewis was still doing great stuff. I mean, he was doing stuff that I couldn't do. He was amazing. So it's got to be marked accordingly."

Lewis and Katya performed a Salsa to a song from West Side Story as part of Musicals Week.

On the choice of song and choreography, Mr Jordan commented: "I mean, that was, for me, the main reason it didn't really, it didn't have a Salsa feel.

"I mean, if Katya was made to dance to that, I think that's pretty bad, because back in the day, we used to get a massive say in what we used to dance to. I know they have less say now."

The judges gave lukewarm feedback and ultimately gave the couple a score of 35.

Meanwhile, Amber and Nikita had achieved a flawless score of 40 for their Charleston to Guys and Dolls.