Strictly Come Dancing judges accused of 'deliberately' marking Aston Merrygold down

Aston Merrygold is reportedly being deliberately marked down on ‘Strictly Come Dancing‘ because of his previous performing experience.

Last month we exclusively reported that the former JLS singer came under fire when he signed up to the ballroom and latin show over the summer, as fans thought he was at an unfair advantage due to his skills on the dance floor in the X Factor band.

The singer – who can back flip and street dance – is also one of the front runners in the competition this year, but the judges are said to be penalising him because they don’t want viewers to lose interest.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, former Strictly dance professional James Jordan – who quit the show in 2014 – said: “Aston’s dance was full of brilliant lifts and tricks.

“But the judges twist scores. Someone does an amazing performance and they don’t want them to run away with it. They did it with Danny Mac last year. I get irate about it.

“It’s meant to be about teaching someone who’s not danced before. You won’t see a Darren Gough or Mark Ramprakash win again.”

But James’ wife Ola Jordan – who was also a professional on the programme until 2015 – doesn’t think the celebrities are to blame as the bosses shouldn’t pick them if they’re worried about there being an
unfair advantage on those who haven’t ever danced before.

She added: “Blame ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ for picking them.”

Last night’s results show saw ‘Holby City’ star Chizzy Akudolu – the first to leave – booted out of the competition after she failed to impress in the dance off against Brian Conley.

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