Craig Revel Horwood has defended his decision to score Aston Merrygold a four for his Viennese Waltz on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 52-year-old judge gave the former JLS singer – who had previously been the favourite to win the competition – the low score for his performance on the BBC Latin and ballroom dance competition on Saturday (04.11.17), and when combined with the audience vote, the star found himself in the dreaded dance-off and was later voted off the show.
But now, Craig has said he isn’t to blame for Aston’s shock exit, as the public didn’t vote to save him from the bottom two.
He said: "We didn’t put him in the bottom two, the audience did."
Craig and the other judges – Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli, and head judge Shirley Ballas – have also been accused previously of deliberately marking the 29-year-old singer and his partner Janette Manara down, in order to make it appear as though they need to improve.
But the judge has slammed the claims, insisting he gave an accurate list of what was wrong with Aston’s dance, and standing by his decision to save Saturdays singer Mollie King in the dance-off.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Craig added: "That’s rubbish. I gave a list of what was wrong with it on the night. And Mollie did a better dance in the dance-off."
The comments come after former ‘Strictly’ professional James Jordan hit out at Craig, and called his decision to score Aston a four "disgusting".
He said: He had 25 points … he should’ve been nowhere near the position he was on the leaderboard.
"Craig put him there, that’s a fact. Craig gave him a four which was disgusting, and you can’t justify that.
"He’s going to go on ‘It Takes Two’ and say, ‘Oh, it was my opinion, I didn’t like it. I marked it a four and I stand by my four.’
"Bulls**t, I call bulls**t. I’m sorry to swear. It is slightly frustrating.
"I actually could cry for Janette and Aston … for me, it’s ruined the series."
Craig Revel Horwood defends Aston Merrygold score
