Strictly judge Craig Revel-Horwood is known for his caustic criticism, but he was even more savage than ever in Saturday's show after two couples in a row failed to live up to his exacting standards. Craig dismissed Shayne Ward and his pro partner Nancy Xu during their first-ever public dance together, declaring: "As a samba, it failed miserably - it was more like a Salsa!" Anton du Beke couldn't back the couple up sufficiently either as they pranced to Stevie Wonder's 'Do I Do?' as he admitted that the samba usually makes him "nauseous". As the audience reeled from the revelation, Craig gave the couple a dreaded low score of just four, Shirley Ballas gave them a five, while Anton du Beke and Motsi Mabuse awarded the pair a six.
They smiled graciously despite the harsh criticism, but Craig then turned his harsh attention to the next couple - Toyah Willcox and her returning pro partner, Aljaz Skorjanec . He argued that their Tango performance to Madonna's 'Ray of Light' was "lacking aggression" and that Toyah had "lost timing" and "lost connection". An astonished Shirley chimed in: "For once in my lifetime, I agree with you, Craig!" Motsi stepped in to stand up for the couple, describing Toyah as a "powerhouse" and insisting that she wasn't about to let anyone stop her - "even Craig".
However, Craig was unrelenting in his savage criticism, awarding the couple a super-low score of just two points. Toyah admitted: "My feet weren't touchng the floor - you were so strong!" as she apologised to Neil. He defended that she was "great", despite confessing of her timing: "You were just doing some things a little bit earlier or later!" There was a dramatic reaction on Twitter, and as contestants confessed they couldn't wait for 9:30pm to come so the show would be over, one viewer wrote: "The amount of judge bickering [and] contestants answering back, this is not going to be finished till midnight #Strictly.
" " Toyah Wilcox , god love her, one of the worst dances I've ever seen #Strictly," chimed in another viewer. A third lamented: "#Strictly toyah started well, lost it, never recovered and ended up looking like she was being dragged round the floor." A fourth agreed: "Good on Toyah for giving it a good go.
That wasn't a brilliant Tango though. Neil was dragging her around. Not enough attack.
I feel she'll be at risk next week. #StrictlyComeDancing #Strictly." However, others commented appreciatively that she was making the effort to do something different and praised for her for "that alone" as they rooted for her future performances.
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