Strictly Come Dancing viewers sympathise with Ellie Leach over ‘harsh’ score
Former ‘Coronation Street’ actor performed a samba with professional partner Vito Coppola
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Strictly Come Dancing fans have shared their sympathy for Ellie Leach after she grew emotional shortly after her performance.
In Saturday’s (14 October) edition of the show, the former Coronation Street actor and her professional partner, Vito Coppola, danced the samba to the Barry Manilow classic, “Copacabana”.
Ahead of their routine, Coppola had mentioned that the samba was his favourite style of dance to perform.
While the pair gave an energetic performance, head judge Shirley Ballas pointed out that Leach had made a slight mistake with her footwork. Craig Revel Horwood also noted that the actor did not turn her feet in the appropriate way for a Latin-based dance.
All four judges scored the pair a 7, making their score for the week 28.
In her after-dance interview with Claudia Winkleman, Leach, 22, welled up as she shared her disappointment over not getting the positive critique she had hoped for.
“I was actually really nervous to open the show,” she began, before directing a message to her partner. “I’m actually getting a little bit emotional, sorry – I just feel like I let you down.”
Coppola quickly let her know that that wasn’t the case and embraced her, while Winkleman pointed out how proud her mother looked.
On social media, several fans have shared their surprise at Leach and Coppola not receiving higher scores.
“I feel bad for Ellie, I thought she deserved an 8, I’m sorry she thought she did badly cause it wasn’t bad at all,” one fan wrote on Twitter, also known as X.
“Judges marking Ellie and Vito quite harshly, no?” wrote another viewer, before a different Strictly viewer tweeted: “Think that was a bit undermarked. Ellie was fab.”
Elsewhere, some accused the judges of paying too much attention to detail.
“I also saw the mistake, but I think the judges were a bit harsh on Ellie tbh,” reads one Twitter/X comment. “I thought her samba was great.”
A different viewer added: “Too much criticism from nit-picky judges. Ellie was blummin’ amazing!”
Ahead of the series, Leach admitted that she wasn’t looking forward to potential tough critiques. She said: “I’m quite sensitive, so the judges’ feedback might hurt a little bit, but I know that they know what they’re talking about.”
The results of Saturday’s show will be revealed on Sunday 15 October on BBC One at 7.15pm.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments