Strictly star Kevin Clifton leaps to Susan Calman's defence after Game of Thrones Halloween Week Foxtrot
The judges were not major fans of the Game of Thrones themed dance, claiming it "lacked grace"
Kevin Clifton may be Jon Snow, but he definitely knows something rather than "nothing" – and what he knows is how to stand up for his partner Susan Calman.
The Strictly couple performed a Foxtrot for Halloween Week on Saturday night to the tune of Killer Queen, channelling the TV show Game of Thrones by dressing as Daenerys Targaryen (otherwise known as Mother of Dragons) and Jon Snow. Oh, and Susan came down from the ceiling on a giant dragon. It was quite a sight.
But while the weird-but-wonderful dance went down well with the audience, the Strictly judges were having none of it.
"You know how much I love you, but again for me it lacked grace, it lacked elegance," Shirley Ballas said. "Not your best dance for me, today."
But Kevin Clifton piped up: "I love you too, Shirley, but for the Halloween Game of Thrones Foxtrot, grace wasn’t really what we were going for."
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"It’s not the kind of Foxtrot I like to see," Shirley hit back. Surely he's learned from Brendan Cole not to mess with Strictly's new head judge?
Unfortunately the other judges agreed with Shirley. Bruno Tonioli's verdict was that there had been "technically a lot of mistakes," while Craig Revel Horwood drawled: "I thought my ride-on mower at home had more grace and elegance… it wasn’t for me, I’ve got to say."
Ever the diplomat, Darcey Bussell found some "little moments of style happening", but unfortunately "it just didn't last".
"Happy Halloween," Susan deadpanned.
Standing with Claudia Winkleman as the couple waited for their score, Kevin insisted the comments had been unfair: "There weren’t any mistakes." He added: "The thing is it’s Halloween on Strictly… people at home don’t want to see subtle!"
But while Craig only dished out a 3, the other judges whipped out their five paddles – giving them a respectable score of 18.
Strictly returns next Saturday on BBC1.
