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Strictly the Truth: James Jordan shares frustration at 'bonkers' scores during Movie Week

James Jordan is back telling us his thoughts on Strictly the Truth


James Jordan's Strictly the Truth promo
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
On 9 October 2023
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We're back for another week on Strictly the Truth - and this time James Jordan is talking all things Movie Week - and, more to the point - what a very bizarre Movie Week that it was! Our former Strictly pro loves to tell things how it is - so what did he notice about the episode? Who committed a major mistake that the judges' ignored? Who was under-marked? Who is in the danger zone to leave next? 

With dodgy tunes, discombobulated scoring from the judges and the very first 'ten' score of the series - join James' brilliant video series (and share your own comments by clicking through to the YouTube video) as we discuss everything that went down… 

James Jordan shock at judges' bizarre scores during Movie Week | Strictly the Truth | HELLO!

One of James’ biggest talking points of the episode is how 'all over the place' the scoring seemed. After starting on a critical note, with the first few dances landing reasonably low scores, before overworking others (in James' opinion, anyway)! He said: "My feedback on Twitter was that people couldn't understand what was going on with the judges because the first two shows, week one, week two, I think they were pretty spot on." 

Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer dancing in movie week© BBC
Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer delivered another showstopping routine

"The first four dances, you can kind of argue a point here or there, but then it actually became bonkers. I can't understand what went on with the judges. And they've been behaving themselves really well. I was very proud of all the judges. This week, very disappointing, to the point where I can't explain it!" 

The TV personality also shared his thoughts on the music choices, and how they weren’t quite up to the standard he was expecting. "I was quite disappointed with the show because up until now, week one, week two, fantastic," he explained. "I felt everything was on point. The music choices, the VTs, everything was just what I liked. And of course, it's not just about me, but it's what Strictly should be. This week some of the music choices were horrendous." 

Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington perform a Sound of Music routine on Strictly© BBC
Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington took inspiration from the Sound of Music

"It just was all a little bit tacky. I felt the standard had dropped a lot. Certain people received really good themes and good music, so we need to keep an eye on that because I'm all about fairness, making sure that the love is spread. We don't want certain people always getting the best tracks because it does make a massive, massive difference." 

Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima, Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez in Sunday's results show© Guy Levy
Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima, Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez in Sunday's results show

So who did he like during Movie Week? Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice as well as Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley were among the favourites - and again James wasn't best pleased by the judges - this time Craig Revel Horwood - and his decision to give Amanda a six for her Rumba. 

Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far

Rose and Giovanni with the Glitterball in 2021
Rose and Giovanni lifted the Glitterball in 2021
  • 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
  • 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett) 
  • 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova) 
  • 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy) 
  • 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler) 
  • 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup) 
  • 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan) 
  • 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev) 
  • 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
  • 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
  • 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec) 
  • 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev) 
  • 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani) 
  • 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton) 
  • 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
  • 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
  • 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
  • 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse) 
  • 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice) 
  • 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)

He continued: "Out of all the judges, I normally agree with Craig the most. He's an amazing judge, I love him on the panel. [But that was] never a six, what the hell is he doing giving that a six? 

Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice's dance for movie week© BBC
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice wowed with their routine for movie week

"This is how you can put it in perspective because I've got all the scores that everyone gave. So he believes that was the same as Zara and Graziano or Angela's Quick Step. There are other people he gave sixes to as well. When you look at it like that, you go, 'No, it was much better than that.' So why has he given a six? Explain it. How can you explain it? I don't understand how anyone can explain her giving a six! It really frustrates me." 

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