Yahoo News Craig Revel Horwood rubbishes Strictly criticism after he's 'blamed' for Aston Merrygold's exit
Craig Revel Horwood has defended his decision to score Aston Merrygold a four out of 10 for his Viennese Waltz on Strictly Come Dancing.
The former JLS singer was surprisingly eliminated from the BBC show on Sunday night, despite previously being favourite to win this year’s Glitterball Trophy, but the show judge insists it is “rubbish” that he is to blame for Aston’s exit.
Dismissing claims he deliberately underscored Aston and his pro partner Janette Manrara, he told The Sun: “That’s rubbish. I gave a list of what was wrong with it on the night. And Mollie did a better dance in the dance-off.”
The 52-year-old judge gave Aston the score for his performance on the BBC dance competition on Saturday, and when combined with the audience vote, the 29-year-old singer found himself in the dance-off alongside Mollie King, which he lost.
Craig has insisted he isn’t to blame for Aston’s shock exit, because the public didn’t vote to save him from the bottom two.
He added: “We didn’t put him in the bottom two, the audience did.”
Aston’s exit prompted an online backlash from several stars, including former Strictly judge Alesha Dixon.
She tweeted: “Craig giving Aston a 4 basically put the nail in the coffin! Ridiculous! Can’t believe one of the best dancers has left so soon!!! #Strictly (sic)”
Craig giving Aston a 4 basically put the nail in the coffin! Ridiculous! Can't believe one of the best dancers has left so soon!!! #Strictly
— Alesha Dixon (@AleshaOfficial) November 5, 2017
What’s more, former Strictly professional James Jordan hit out at Craig, describing his decision to score Aston a four out of 10 “disgusting”, and claiming Aston’s elimination has “ruined the series”.
Speaking on Facebook Live, he said: “He had 25 points … he should’ve been nowhere near the position he was on the leaderboard.
“Craig put him there, that’s a fact. Craig gave him a four which was disgusting, and you can’t justify that.
“He’s going to go on ‘It Takes Two’ and say, ‘Oh, it was my opinion, I didn’t like it. I marked it a four and I stand by my four.’
“Bulls**t, I call bulls**t. I’m sorry to swear. It is slightly frustrating.
“I actually could cry for Janette and Aston … for me, it’s ruined the series.”
Following Aston’s shock exit, Debbie McGee is now the hot favourite to win the Glitterball Trophy with bookmaker William Hill taking more cash for her to win in recent days.
William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: “We are taking more bets on Debbie than all the other seven remaining contestants put together. It is as if our customers think she has already won.”
As a result, they have trimmed her odds from 13/8 to 6/4.
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