Strictly’s Susan Calman has rejected accusations of mistakes during her Game Of Thrones-themed routine on Saturday night’s show.
The Scottish comedian and partner Kevin Clifton opted for a Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow-inspired foxtrot featuring dragons and plenty of fire.
Head judge Shirley Ballas said the performance was not Calman’s best dance, adding that it lacked grace, while Bruno Tonioli went one further and told the duo it was incoherent and featured “a lot of mistakes”.
It's @SusanCalman as Daenerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons🐲 and @keviclifton as King of the North 👑. Well, Grimsby anyway… #Strictly pic.twitter.com/EMP1Vlu8Fs
— BBC Spooky🎃 (@bbcstrictly) October 28, 2017
The pair looked a little bemused by the feedback but remained tight-lipped until speaking to presenter Claudia Winkleman, when Calman said: “I’ll always be very honest about it, I don’t really remember any mistakes.”
Clifton said: “There weren’t any.”
He had also replied to Ballas’ comments directly, telling her: “I love you, Shirley, but for the Halloween Game of Thrones, dragon-breathing foxtrot, grace wasn’t really what we were going for.”
They collected just 18 points for the routine, putting them in second-last place ahead of Simon Rimmer.
@SCD2017UK SUSAN DID NOT MAKE MISTAKES! Stop making it up, judges.
— Helen Gray (@helenjgray) October 28, 2017
What mistakes???? Susan and Kevin #Strictly2017
— ✨Sue✨ (@Happy_Susie) October 28, 2017
Fans on Twitter were split over Tonioli’s comments, with one labelling the performance “flawless”.
@Blackhalo72 posted: “Susan & Kevin: most entertaining dance of the night. Few mistakes, but I still enjoyed it a lot. They look great.”
@Andy7hody tweeted: “Alexander almost fell over nothing said apart from Bruno, Susan was flawless and picked up on mistakes.”
@Leanwellback wrote: “Susan has improved so much! she’s wonderfully light on her feet. she made mistakes, but she’s so much fun to watch.”
Earlier, Calman had shared a video message on Twitter filmed by Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys in Game Of Thrones.
The actress backed the duo to win and urged her to “go get ’em”.
:: The Strictly Come Dancing results show is on BBC One at 7.15pm on Sunday.
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