james and ola jordan

Ola & James Jordan's Strictly verdict: 'There's no way Tony Adams is going home tonight'

Who will be the first couple to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing?

Senior Lifestyle & Fashion Writer
October 2, 2022

Strictly Come Dancing headed into its second glittering week on Saturday, with the pressure on for the celebrities and their professional dance partners as they fight for their place in next week's show. 

SEE: Strictly Come Dancing's Fleur East overcome by emotion after touching routine

This week saw Nikita Kuzmin in tears after his Waltz with Paralympian Ellie Simmonds, a disappointing score for football manager Tony Adams and a dazzling set of performances from the remaining celebrity-professional duos. 

Here to share their thoughts on the race to the glitterball, former Strictly pros and World Champions Ola and James Jordan are back with their weekly column, Strictly Speaking, to give the low down on all of this week's dances.

WATCH: Nancy Xu apologises to Will Mellor after Strictly routine

James: Let's start by saying welcome back to Craig Revel-Horwood. It was nice to see Craig back to normal again… last week he was so happy and jovial I didn't recognise him. I was thinking: "Who is this new judge they've got sitting in Craig's seat?".

I joke, but I do like that honest side to his judging - I think it's needed on Strictly. He was very consistent with his scoring yesterday.  

Ola: The tables turned for me last night! Some couples I didn't rate last week really impressed me last night, and vice versa. Richie and Giovanni in particular surprised me a lot. 

DISCOVER: Who is Strictly's Carlos Gu? Everything you need to know about the multiple world semi-finalist

MORE: Strictly star Tony Adams' wife overcome with pride despite dance being dubbed disastrous by judges

James: We really weren't a fan of their Cha Cha, but their Quickstep was so much better. I do think the judges gave them far too high a score in my opinion, but the transformation from last week was so much better. 

Giovanni Pernice and Richie Anderson surprised with an impressive Quickstep

Ola: Last week, we couldn't stop talking about Will Mellor. He was great this week, but I didn't love his performance as much as I did on the opening show. I think he has something really special about him, and it's clear to see he has a natural talent, but I didn't enjoy the lack of Salsa steps in their routine.

James: I agree. He's still one of the front runners for me, but I do think he could've pushed himself a bit more to have made the same impact as he did last week.  

Ola: He's already proved he's more than capable of keeping up with a routine, so I think he needed to be challenged more. I feel like he's more advanced than the choreography, and he wasn't pushed enough to add in those all-important Salsa steps. 

James: Saying that, it's still so early in the competition. He has so much further to go in the coming weeks and we can't wait to see what he brings to the dancefloor.

James and Ola name the underdog of the competition

James: I thought Tyler West smashed it out of the park with his Jive. It wasn't quite the 'Will effect' we had from Week One, but it wasn't a million miles away from that. 

Ola: Tyler is definitely the one to watch in the competition. Tyler and Dianne have great chemistry, they make great dance partners, and you can tell they're working well together. Dianne gave Tyler fairly advanced steps in the choreography this week - I was so impressed. 

Tyler West stole the show with an impressive Jive

James: I really like them both. Their performance was one of the best of the night in my opinion - Tyler is definitely one to watch. I said last week that James Bye could potentially be the dark horse of the competition… I now retract that statement. 

Ola: I agree. The Tango is one of the easiest ballroom dances to learn, and I felt like James' routine last night was quite disappointing. 

James: It lacked energy and performance. I really like them as a couple but I just don't see him as a dark horse anymore. 

Is James Bye still the dark horse of the competiton?

Molly Rainford topped the leaderboard with an impressive Quickstep

Ola: We saw Molly Rainford top the leaderboard with her Quickstep. Last week we felt like Carlos out-danced Molly, but actually think she's proved she can match his energy. 

James: I still don't think I would have had them at the top of the leaderboard… it was a great performance but I didn't think it deserved the marks it got. She's an exceptional dancer, but it wasn't my favourite dance of the night. 

I didn't love the decision to put them both in suits. I love that element of the ballroom where the skirt is fluid and continues after the dancer has finished moving, and I think it's an important element of the choreography. It might be a traditional way of thinking, but I think having them both in suits lost that part for me. 

Ola: How lovely was Fleur East's performance? It showed another side to her last night, and the song was truly stunning which helped build the atmosphere. 

James: She was miles better than she was last week, though I do think she's still a little stiff. She needs a bit more softness in her back, it will improve her performance so much if her movement comes from her body rather than just placing her arms where they need to be. 

That's what I would keep working on if she was my dance partner, if she nails that it will take her performance up to the next level. 

Ola: Ellie Simmonds really impressed me this week, we felt like she did an excellent Cha Cha last week and her Waltz was equally as stunning. 

James: It was easily the most emotional performance of the evening. It was totally beautiful, Nikita did an amazing job with the routine. I do think her footwork could have been improved, however. Technically speaking, Ellie didn't quite nail the heelwork required for a Waltz, which Craig actually picked up on, but these things come with work!

Ola: Ellie and Nikita's Waltz was in our top three performances of the night. We thought it was that good. 

Paralympian Ellie Simmonds performed a stunning Waltz

Ola and James predict the celebrity in danger of leaving

James: I think in Week One, the celebrities get so much longer to prepare for their first dance. Everyone is so worried about how they're going to come across in the first week that they overprepare. 

When it comes to Week Two, the reality sets in that you only have 5 days to learn a routine, perfect and polish it. It's one of the hardest weeks in my opinion. 

Ola: You can tell the standard changed overall, this week was far weaker than last week. But we only know that from experience! As the competition goes on, the celebrities do start to pick up the steps quicker. 

James: Week Two for me is always one of the weakest weeks, you see that drop in quality. Having said that, if you take someone like Tony - he did so well. Would I have marked him high? No. But there's no way he's going home tonight. It was too entertaining. 

Ola: We might be professional dancers who appreciate good quality dancing, but we also want to be entertained. Sometimes you can watch a technically perfect performance that is boring because it lacks charisma and energy, but when you get someone like Tony who has bags of it, it's so enjoyable. 

James: And he remembered most of the routine this week, which was a start! He's only going to get better, trust me. 

I was rooting for Tony before he even stepped onto the ballroom this week, and I think most of the people who watched Strictly were too. It was so sad to see how much it affected him last week when he messed up the routine, he should be so proud of himself for nailing it this week. 

It was bottom of the leaderboard again for Tony Adams

Ola: There might be much better dancers in the competition, but he's going to be so chuffed knowing that he nailed the routine. It's always tough training someone who has never had any dance training too, so Katya is likely feeling such a sense of achievement for getting Tony to the standard he is now against such tough competition. 

James: I think Matt Goss is likely going to be in the bottom two this week. He was at the bottom of the leaderboard with 22 points… and his performance really let him down this week. I could be totally wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes tonight. 

Ola: I do also think Kaye Adams and Kai Widdrington could also end up in the bottom two. They gave a great performance, and there was such a big improvement from last week, but she was at the bottom end of the leaderboard. Compared to the other performances, I just don't know if they did enough to be saved this week.

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