Strictly Come Dancing professional Anton Du Beke has accused former judge Arlene Phillips of being "harsh" after she criticised his partner. Du Beke is dancing with Footballers' Wives actress Laila Rouass.
The 66-year-old choreographer was giving her opinion on the remaining contestants and said that Rouass "did not deserve to be in the final".
In response Du Beke, told PA: "I think Laila is as good a ballroom dancer as anybody we've ever had in a series of Strictly Come Dancing, so I think Arlene's being a bit harsh - but she always was a bit harsh."
Talking about the standard of dancing this year, Du Beke added: "I think this year's as equal to any other year.
"In last year's, if you think about the boys, apart from Austin [Healey] and Tom [Chambers], I think the boys were terrible actually."
Phillips has said that only Ricky Whittle and Ali Bastian are "good enough" to win the competition.
Whittle has been a favourite throughout the competition but found himself in the bottom two last Saturday night.
Judge Bruno Tonilo said: "We had a bit of a scare [on Saturday] with Ricky in the bottom two - but I still think he is very, very good, he's got a lot to offer so it will be interesting to see what happens next week when we're getting towards the semis."
This article is powered by Well Contented Ltd
