Strictly Come Dancing: James Jordan hits out at Jay McGuiness for ‘unfair’ professional training

Jennifer Ruby21 October 2015
The Weekender

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James Jordan has blasted Strictly Come Dancing for including celebrities who have professional dance training.

The former show professional has hit out at the ‘unfair’ inclusion of Jay McGuiness who has reportedly been to stage school.

In his Best magazine column, Jordan wrote: “Is it really fair to compare celebrities with absolutely no dance training with others who, frankly, have as much training as me?

“Don’t get me wrong, I love watching great dancing, and from the start I’ve predicted Jay McGuiness will win.”

Professional? Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani on Strictly Come Dancing
BBC/Guy Levy

Jordan, 37, whose wife Ola Jordan and her partner Iwan Thomas were first pair to be voted off of this year’s show, added:

“But he went to a dance school from 13 so, of course, he can pick up a routine 10 times faster than someone with no training.”

Strictly Come Dancing 2015 Launch

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The dancer, who last appeared on Strictly in 2013, went on to say that the judges need to mark contestants according to the amount of training they’ve had.

He continued: “I think the judges either need to take the celebrity backgrounds into account and mark them accordingly.

"Or the pros need to start saying, ‘Thanks for your opinion, but I don’t agree because they’ve had very little training. Perhaps you could just mark their improvement?’”

“It’s just not a level playing field,” Jordan added.

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