Strictly star Alex Kingston admits her "body is suffering" after brutal score from judges

Alex Kingston had the tricky task of opening this week's episode of Strictly Come Dancing – and unfortunately the Doctor Who star wasn't at her best, admitting to making several mistakes during her Cha Cha routine.

That led to some pretty harsh comments from the judges, especially Craig Revel Horwood, who told her that the performance got "worse and worse and worse".

But speaking to Claudia Winkleman backstage, Alex explained that she had no complaints about his feedback, while also pointing out that at this stage of the competition the dancing was beginning to take its toll on her physically.

"The thing is, when I'm watching the show as a member of the public, most of the time I do agree with Craig," she said. "So now that I'm in it, I can't go 'Oh no, he's talking rubbish,' because I know myself watching the telly would agree with him."

She continued: "Also I feel like this is a time just to sort of talk to the public, actually, about where we're all at as competitive dancers in this. And it's never really discussed, when you're at the sharp end, how our bodies are really suffering."

After Claudia pointed out that the rest of the contestants and dancers were nodding along in agreement, Alex added: "My 62-year-old self is saying, 'What are you putting me through?' But my spirit and my soul is going "la la la la la, I don't want to know. I want to keep on dancing."

"But there is a point where you go, this is what the life of a dancer is like. And all of these dancers know what I'm going though or what the other contestants are going through which is physical problems and fatigue and stuff like that – but it's still a competition."

Read more:

• Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard 2025: Full judges' scores LIVE
• Strictly Come Dancing 2025 songs and dances confirmed for Week 10

Of course, eventually it was time to go to the judges for their scores, with Craig awarding her just 4 points, before she was given 6 apiece from Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas and a more generous 7 from Anton Du Beke.

That put her total score at 23 – her lowest score in the competition since her very first dance back in week 1. But of course, with the public vote also factoring in, all is not lost – especially when we consider that tonight will see the introduction of the new Instant Dance challenge, which will see more points up for grabs and which Shirley Ballas previously revealed would "change everything."

So there's still plenty to dance for!

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 29th November at 6:35pm.

Add Strictly Come Dancing to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.