James and Ola Jordan have just returned from the Greek Islands for some filming, and took a bit of time out to celebrate their 16-year anniversary during their time there! "James took me to a lovely restaurant," Ola explained. "I felt very special. He's got brownie points now! I think he wants something, I'm not sure what yet!" Of course, the pair have still found the time to watch the fourth week of Strictly Come Dancing, and this week they're filling us in on their reaction to Dev and Dianne's exit, Katya's tears after her dance with Mike Bushell, and their two cents on Neil Jones' rumoured romance with Alex Scott...
James: I loved all of the dancing this week, but I was just irritated by the judges. It was such a great show, but we were disappointed that Dev and Dianne are gone! It happens every year, to be fair. Dev had so much to give. He was brilliant in my opinion. I felt the show itself did its job, the pros did their job, the celebrities did their job, but the judges didn't do their job. It was a bit of a farce. The wrong person this evening is gone. It comes from the judging being all over the place. I mean, David and Nadiya with 28 points in front of five other couples. It's impossible.
Ola: You can say all dance is based on opinion but the ballroom and latin world is very technical. And it's not like you have contemporary dancing and say, 'It's based on opinion', but no, it's based on fundamentals of dance movement. There is no way that David and Nadiya should have been in the middle of the leaderboard. They are still are probably one of the most improved couple of the night. But still the worst.
James: The public aren't the experts, but from reading my Twitter account they seem to get it more right than the judges have. The only job they have to get right is get the leaderboard right because otherwise they'll have people like Dev, who in my opinion was an amazing talent, brilliant for the show, now he's gone home because the judges didn't do their job. People can say it's only a TV show but you could see how much it means to these people, you invest so much into it. He was devastated, he was standing there and you could see how upset he was. The judges should have saved him because what he was doing with the rhythm in his body and things like that was far superior to what Emma did in her dance. Dev was a better dancer.
Ola: We didn't watch last night because we were away, we watched it when we got back so James said on Twitter, 'Let me know what you think'. And after the comments about the scores we were really interested to watch it and decide ourselves because people might just say that. But then we watched it and thought, 'Yeah, they were right.' Why do you think judges vote that way?
James: They clearly wanted to save David and Nadiya. David's improved and the judges should have commented on that you know, 'You're going in the right direction, brilliant improvement.' That's fine. But he got 28 points. So I just find it nonsensical. I can't for the life of me think why they would want to save him over someone like Dev. To put him so high on the leaderboards to have the possibility of a better dancer going doesn't make sense to me at all.
Ola: The judging has been really good up until this week.
James: I've never had so many tweets of people saying the judges have messed up this week. It's an atrocity, because up until this week, I felt the judging was pretty spot on. Then next week all of a sudden it's going to be, 'Anyone can go. No one is safe.' I don't like that. He's been robbed of his place in the competition and I have nothing against David and Nadiya, like I said, they were probably the most improved couple of the week.
Ola:(Laughing) sorry guys but it’s an honest column for you! It's really annoyed me this week because I feel sorry for Dev and Dianne.
James: Then there were the song choices. Some of them are so horrendous and it really does make a difference to the performance. As a professional when someone goes, 'This is your song', and you don't believe it and you know it's [bad] and you know the public aren't gonna like either, it makes things kind of difficult. I understand as a producer you need the right mix in the show, but you have so many choices and some are just awful. The audience know what they're looking for now.
READ: Strictly's Shirley reacts: Katya's tears, Kelvin's hips, and Dev and Dianne's devastation
Ola: They know what a Charleston should sound like, they know what a Rumba should be like, and when they hear something where they're trying to put something on that is, I don't know, new and fresh but it doesn't work with the dance, it just makes a massive difference in overall performance.
James: I really agree. I guess we need to look at the positives too! It was such a great show and I think that that you've got the two frontrunners now - which to me are Karim and Kelvin, and Oti and Amy are doing an amazing job. It's Amy's first time where she's had a decent celeb and she's really lifted her game. I think both of them are really strong.
Ola: It was a very good Tango from beginning to end. Sometimes there is too many gimmicks but he did a proper Tango, and that was down to Amy. I appreciate that Amy has put a lot of work into the technique and everything. But what did you think about Kelvin? Kelvin and his hip action?
James: They're all over him, right? But let's say that was a young pretty woman and you've got two heterosexual men sitting on the panel drooling over them, there would be uproar, wouldn't there? The world is going so PC at the moment which I hate because I love [that stuff]. What they did on that night I think is brilliant because he was sexy, he was masculine, it was raunchy and all the things they said it was, however, that was about a young girl.
Ola: Like if it was about Saffron.
James: It was actually quite sexist really, in a way. And I thought it was a bit childish, and a bit cheap for me. I don't think it's really appropriate.
READ: Strictly fans SHOCKED after fan favourite Dev Griffin leaves show
Ola: My opinion is that it was a great rumba, I didn't find it raunchy or sexy or over the top. It was very man and woman. It was a proper rumba. It was brilliant. It's the quiet ones! The quiet ones are the worst ones! I just love watching him. It's just like you can't help but enjoy watching his performance. They were great together. Absolutely the ones to watch.
James: I was worried he was going to come out in week one and that he was going to be a one trick pony and maybe that was a lucky dance for him, but he's the real deal.
Ola: Who do you think should have left this week?
James: Well no one deserves to leave do they. I mean, technically David and Nadiya were the worst couple but they were also the most improved so they didn't deserve to leave. I mean it could have been one of four people I suppose, David and Nadiya, Alex and Neil, Will and Jeanette and Emma and Aljaz, possibly.
Ola: I loved Chris and Karen's performance, I thought it was really fun. Again, I feel he's a grower. He's a bit of a slow burner. So between those four. Who did we disagree on again? Oh, Emma and Anton!
James: Oh yes! Let's go through that.
Ola: I didn't like it. I didn't like the song, I found it quite boring. I don't know why but there was just not much thrill for me, it was just average.
James: And I think the total opposite which was very unusual for us! I thought it was well choreographed and that Anton did a good job telling a story, I thought her posture had improved. I think overall she did a good job.
Ola: I didn't see any story.
James: That's because you have no heart at the moment because you're hormonal and angry! [Laughs]. Then there was Katya's tears after her dance with Mike...
Ola: I did cry as well after my dances on Strictly because I was so happy with my partners, and I cried when I won!
James: You cried when you won, that's a bit different to crying when you get a nine, isn't it! I'm always very cynical with things like that. A bit early, maybe. A bit dramatic! I mean, she seems to be on one this year! don't know - she's very energetic and screamy and even when they got voted through, she was very loud. Maybe she was trying to stand out from the crowd, I don't know!
Ola: Then there's the rumoured romance between Neil and Alex too...
James: You know what, if there is, amazing. They're not hurting anyone, they're not in a relationship and if they do get together... you know I've known Neil for over 20 years and he is an amazing human being. And I want the best for him and if he has [struck up a romance with Alex] I say good luck to them because they're not hurting anyone else! There is always someone [getting with] someone, surely! Neil is a lovely guy so I say fair play to him. He's been through a lot in the last year.
Be sure to check in next week to see what James and Ola think about Strictly's fifth week.
