Strictly Come Dancing star Ellie Goldstein performed her Couple’s Choice last night, with the judges awarding the joyous dance with a huge 31 points.
It was Ellie and partner Vito Coppola’s highest score yet, and landed them in fourth place on the leaderboard. It was topped by Alex Kingston, who got a 10 from Shirley Ballas for her rumba.
Ellie looked to be having a ball, with Anton Du Beke telling her his eight-year-old twins would be “screaming at the top of their voice” for her. He added: “You are amazing! Ellie, you’re incredible.”
Meanwhile, Motsi Mabuse told her: “It was strong, it was powerful and I know so many young girls are there watching you. They’re going to want to be on stage like you. I’ve never seen you dance stronger. Honestly guys, that really touched me.”
Backlash over Ellie Goldstein’s Couple’s Choice
Viewers watching at home also loved it… apart from a small corner of social media grumblers, who said that the judges don’t give Ellie “any critical feedback”.
One said: “Call me a [bleep] or whatever, but if that Couple’s Choice had been any other contestant the judges would have dragged them. I’m glad Ellie is having fun, but stop giving absolutely no critiques. That was stompy, messy and all over the place.”
Another added: “This! She gets no constructive criticism at all. They don’t even mention her dancing. Just her energy. Her and Vito’s relationship is beautiful and she’s smashing the show. But dancing wise, not on the level of Amber [Davies] or Alex [Kingston].”
A third said: “I say it every week. She needs criticism like everyone else has. It’s a dancing competition at the end of the day.”
However, many other people saw it very, very differently, staunchly defending Ellie against the backlash.
‘Until you’re perfect, stop commenting!’
“They’ve been giving her feedback since the start,” said one, defending Ellie’s scores. “They’ll give everyone some harsher critiques some weeks and then lots of praise other weeks. It’s a TV show, not a professional competition.”
A second defended Ellie’s Couple’s Choice: “Difficult choreography. She was in sync with Vito throughout.” A third added: “It’s more about representation and inclusion. She did have feedback last week and this week was her Couple’s Choice which is normally one they make like an X Factor story.”
“If they can have people who are trained dancers in the mix, why not also have people who bring pure energy, enthusiasm and joy as well as improving each week? The illusion of Strictly being an actual competition is long gone,” another pointed out.
“Bet you’re fun at funerals,” another declared. “It was a Couple’s Choice so anything goes. Until you’re perfect, stop commenting!”
