ola jordan and james column

James and Ola Jordan: Bill's unfair advantage, why we wouldn't put up with silly dances and what we thought of Movie Week

Movie Week was quite controversial!

Deputy Lifestyle Editor
November 8, 2020

Movie Week on Strictly Come Dancing saw the likes of Maisie Smith dress as Frozen's Elsa, Max George transform into Homer Simpson and Jamie Laing become Hercules. But despite the impressive costumes and makeup, what did former professionals James and Ola Jordan think?

READ: Are Strictly stars HRVY and Maisie Smith dating?

James noted Strictly did not used to allow people with Latin and ballroom dance training, such as Bill Bailey, on the show while Ola thought Jason Bell may now be at risk of leaving following his Star Wars-themed Paso Doble. Keep reading to see their Strictly column…

James: The show went backwards a bit, I feel the Movie Week themes and costumes take over from the dancing. All the gimmicky stuff and no proper dancing in a lot of the routines.

Ola: The whole show didn't really impress us, I don't know why.

WATCH: Anton du Beke addresses the possibility of becoming Strictly's fourth judge

James: Because it's Movie Week there are only so many themes and music they can use. Jason has been let down almost every week so far. It just makes him look really cheesy – last week he looked like Bird from Sesame Street with his bright yellow outfit and this week he had the most horrendous song that he had to dance to.

Ola: It feels like they've made him into the joke person.

James: People might say, 'Oh the professional dancers pick the song,' but no, the producers have the final say and maybe the dancers weren't as outspoken as me.

Ola: Never in a million years would we have agreed to use that song.

James: I felt sorry for them, there was nothing that Luba could do to make that routine look good. None of the pros could!

I did a poll on my Twitter saying: 'I feel Jason has been stitched up this week, do you agree?' Yes got 92 per cent, no got 8 per cent out of 10,470 votes so far. It's not just me.

Ola: Previously, we had much more choice as professional dancers but things change on Strictly. The professionals don't have as much say as they used to.

Ola and James revealed they weren't a fan of Jason's music

James: I'm sure there are some pros who would have said: 'No way am I dancing to that,' but there're other people that don't like confrontation.

Ola: At the end of the day the producers have the last say and that's what they gave Jason. And it was horrendous! 

GALLERY: Strictly Come Dancing pro dancers: find out who's single, who's married and who's dating who

He could leave this week and I'm devastated. I would have done a totally different thing with him – I wouldn't have picked that costume or song. If you gave him a hot theme with some good authentic Paso music everyone would vote for him! 

James: With regards to the dancing, both Jason and Nicola deserve to be in the bottom two. Would I want Jason to be there? No. He wasn't given a great opportunity.

Ola: Moving onto the top of the leaderboard, we have Ranvir and Bill.

James: There's absolutely no way that Ranvir was better than Maisie or Bill, so that's ridiculous. A lot of people were overmarked.

Ola: JJ was also way too high.

James: JJ wasn't better than Max. The scoring was just bizarre! I did another poll that said: 'The leaderboard is a shambles tonight, do you agree?' and 83 per cent said yes.

Ola: Who should have been at the top?

James: Bill at the top followed by Maisie, Ranvir, Max and I think Aljaz and Clara did a great job so I would have had them next. I feel they were marked correctly, but not relative to everyone else – I would have had them higher up the leaderboard. 

Ola said Bill Bailey is one of her front-runners

Ola: Then HRVY.

James: Then JJ, Caroline, Jamie.

Ola: And Nicola and Jason.

James: Ranvir got the highest score of the series so far but she wasn't as good as last week. Last week she was exceptional. Giovanni is doing a fantastic job because she doesn't have any natural dancing ability.

Ola: Well she's not a trained dancer like some of the other celebrities.

James: Maybe the judges were marking her dancing relative to others who have had dance training, such as Maisie and Bill. Ranvir exceeded my expectations and the routine was great but was it a 9? No.

MORE: Shirley Ballas shares backstage secrets from Strictly Come Dancing set

Ola: Bill's second on the leaderboard, can you see him getting to the final?

James: I can. 

Ola: Bill did some things last night that you can't teach someone that quickly, like leg extensions and body shaping. He's had some dance background which is surprising for people because he was expected to be the joke act. But you can see he's definitely had some dance training and he's the front-runner for me, with the likes of Maisie and Max.

Max has had a breakthrough, according to James

James: We only found out that he had previous dance experience this weekend. I've been shocked by how brilliant Bill is, but I didn't think someone who has had ballroom and Latin training was allowed on Strictly – it never used to be. In his book, he mentioned that he had done ballroom and Latin dancing when he was a teenager which makes sense.

Ola: Not being disrespectful to Oti because she is an amazing teacher, but he does have an advantage.

James: Yes, but his performance was epic. Let's move onto Max – I'm not a fan of the couple's choice but I still loved the dance.

Ola: I didn't like the song to be honest, but Max is definitely coming out of his shell. He felt comfortable in the whole thing and the dance brought out his personality, which will help him stay in the competition. I love Max and Dianne as a couple and I'd like to see them go further.

James: He had a huge breakthrough this week.

Ola: He's going to be up there. One person I was disappointed with was HRVY.

The couple believe Nicola and Katya have much more to give

James: I agree with Shirley, I didn't see enough steps that I recognised. There wasn't enough content in the routine. He's got loads of potential but I feel it was their weakest performance so far.

Ola: You expect them to be good, but it wasn't that impressive.

James: And what did you think of Nicola?

Ola: It was a bit samey, the last two of Katya and Nicola's routines look very similar to me. I don't know what it is but I don't remember their dances very well.

James: Their quickstep on week one was much more along the lines of what we're looking for.

Ola: Yes, I agree. I love this dance too but she's got much more to give.  

James: We know how incredible all the pro dancers are and we're sure next week that they will create a fantastic show.

READ: Who is Strictly star Max George's girlfriend? Everything you need to know

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