Former Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ and his brother Curtis Pritchard have weighed in on Will Mellor’s performance in the quarter-finals of the hit show, admitting that they wanted to see more from his performance.
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Speaking to HELLO! for the Strictly Insider, AJ said: "I'm disappointed in Will [Mellor]. Will is my all-time favourite, I love him to bits, but this is the most positive disappointment I could ever say because he acted so well at the beginning, so good at the end and his hold is so perfect.
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"But then I'm like, where's the gut? Where's the determination? Use that heel lead, don't be pussyfooting around, as you get into it, you go for it."
Curtis, who was a dancing pro on Ireland's Dancing with the Stars, added: "The thing is, Foxtrot is very hard. The acting at the start and the end were fantastic. The hold is fantastic. But the thing with the foxtrot, if you can't get that push and that really good flow, it can look a little bit boring and flat now. He did it very cleanly. It's hard to make it look clean and subtle."
© Photo: BBCWhat did you think of Will's routine?
AJ also suggested the music couldn’t have been a reason behind the performance, adding: "Miss Saigon as well, the music’s not the most," before looking unimpressed. The pair also opened up about whether Will was becoming more tired as the show progressed, with Curtis saying: "I could see that in that performance! I hope it isn’t the case… I hope he can bring himself back to, ‘I’m loving this.’"
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© Photo: Getty ImagesAJ and Curtis opened up about the routine
Will opened up about his performance on Instagram, saying: "I remember when in the beginning we said that if we had made it getting to Strictly Musicals Week we would have really wanted to dance this song of #misssaigon. Since then I always dreamed how it could have looked like. Last night has been so magical to me and everything was as we were talking that day! Thank you partner @willmellor76."
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