Strictly star fumes scoring needs to be 'looked at' as they demand change to BBC show

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional, Brendan Cole, has criticised the judges for their perceived bias in scoring.

The 48-year-old New Zealand-born dancer was a professional on the popular BBC dance competition from 2004 to 2017.

He also served as a judge on the New Zealand version of the show, Dancing With The Stars, from 2005 to 2009, giving him a unique perspective on both sides of the judging table.

Brendan has claimed that the Strictly judging panel, featuring Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood, is being too lax with their marking.

Brendan has observed an inconsistency in how the judges provide their feedback, sometimes prioritising technique over performance, and at other times, the opposite.

He has proposed that the scoring task should be made more challenging for those on the panel, suggesting a change in the format so they have to judge twice

The dance star took particular issue with the way scores were given out last weekend, with Pete Wicks and his dance partner Jowita Przysta receiving low scores from the judges, only to then garner significant support from the viewers.

Brendan, who is currently collaborating with Sky Vegas, shared his thoughts with The Mirror as he said: "Pete was last, on his own, at the bottom of the table with 22 points, so even if they [the judges] could have scored him lower, it wouldn't have changed [his position].

"People obviously like him, and people are voting for them [Pete and Jowita Przysta] to get out of the bottom two. Whereas, people weren't voting for Montell [Douglas] and Johannes [Radebe], or Sam [Quek] and Nikita [Kuzmin], and that's why they were [in the dance-off]. Both of those couples were not at the bottom of the leaderboard.".

Speaking about Sam's performance, the former Strictly star confessed she should've got higher marks for her routine, admitting the Morning Live presenter did very well on a technical level.

He touched on the judges scores for comedian Chris McCausland as Brandan claimed he should've been given a lower score than Sam.

The 48-year-old added: "[The judges'] scoring has got to be looked at are they judging technique, or are they judging performance? It wouldn't hurt to have two marks for the judges a technical mark and a performance mark, then the judges really have to be on their toes. They can't just like what they like and not like what they don't.

"If somebody's really good with the technical aspect, they'll get really good marks and if their performance is terrible, they'll get a bad mark. That way, you get a fair result. Technically, Sam was one of the best on the night, yet it didn't reflect in their scores."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night on BBC One and iPlayer at 6:35pm.