Craig Revel Horwood has hit out at James Jordan after the pro dancer criticised the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judges’ decision to axe Dev Griffin from the show.
The 54-year-old panellist and his three fellow judges – Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, and Bruno Tonioli – all opted to send the Radio 1 DJ home over the weekend following his and Dianne Buswell’s dance-off against Viscountess Emma Weymouth and Aljaz Skorjanec.
James later shot to the defence of Dev and Dianne and claimed the judging was "all over the place", but Craig has now insisted the ex-‘Strictly’ dancer is "just out for the publicity".
He said: "James Jordan is just out for publicity and if he was on the judging panel, I’m telling you looking at it you have to judge on what you see.
"Was Dev the right person to go on the night? Yes. Would he have been better in the future? Yes. Was he better in the past? Yes.
"He just got a dance he wasn’t particularly good at and he made a mistake.
"Dev was the worst dancer on the night but if he had done his other routines then he may have been successful going through."
Craig also took a swipe at fans of the show who were up in arms about Dev’s axing, insisting they know "nothing" about dancing the cha cha cha.
Speaking at the Best Heroes Awards, he told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "They can kick off as much as they like.
"How much do they know about the cha cha cha? Nothing darling … so they can kick off."
After Dev and Dianne were eliminated from the show, James admitted he felt "irritated by the judges" and claimed axing the pair was "a bit of a farce".
He said: "I loved all of the dancing this week, but I was just irritated by the judges. It was such a great show, but we were disappointed that Dev and Dianne are gone! It happens every year, to be fair. Dev had so much to give. He was brilliant in my opinion.
"I felt the show itself did its job, the pros did their job, the celebrities did their job, but the judges didn’t do their job. It was a bit of a farce.
"The wrong person this evening is gone. It comes from the judging being all over the place. I mean, David and Nadiya with 28 points in front of five other couples. It’s impossible."
Craig Revel Horwood hits out at James Jordan’s Dev Griffin defence
