8 hours Ago By Conor O'Brien
AN ex Strictly pro has waded into a 'fix' row on the hit BBC competition. Viewers have criticised a perceived advantage for celeb contestants with previous dance experience. Professional dancer Ola Jordan , 42, starred in Strictly from 2006 to 2015.
Speaking in a new interview with Mecca Bingo. , she shared her thoughts on Week 5's leaderboard and the stars' dancing abilities. Arsenal legend turned pundit Paul Merson was in last place, with 19 points - and he was ultimately eliminated .
Ola said: "The leaderboard was right in some respect because you've got Paul, Punam, Pete and Sam in the bottom of the leaderboard, they are all non-dancers. More on Strictly Come Dancing "The rest above have had some sort of dance-related training, maybe apart from Chris, but he's very good. "The bottom four that are on the leaderboard are really pretty much not dancers.
" Those who placed higher include the likes of Shayne Ward , Wynne Evans and JB Gill. Joint top of the leaderboard were Gladiators' Montell Douglas and EastEnders ' Jamie Borthwick , with 39 each. Most read in News TV Soap star Jamie, 30, won last year's Strictly Christmas special alongside Nancy Xu .
Meanwhile, actress Alex Kingston revealed her pal Sarah Hadland is a "trained ballet dancer" . Fans hit out at ex-Love Island star Tasha Ghouri over her professional dance training background. The 26-year-old is partnered with pro Aljaž Škorjanec - and the pair have consistently placed high on the leaderboard each week.
Taking to X, one viewer wrote: "Tasha getting all high scores but sure she’s a professional dancer, bit unfair." Another added: "Isn’t Tasha Ghouri a professional dancer? Wasn’t that a thing when she was in Love Island ?" Here's who is matched with who this series..
. Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk Paul Merson and Karen Hauer Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu Wynne Evans and Katya Jones While a third remarked: "I love tasha but she isn’t meant to be on the show because she is already a PROFESSIONAL DANCER." Others disagreed with the notion and came to Tasha's defence.
READ MORE SUN STORIES A fan penned: "shes not ballroom or latin trained though, there are multiple ‘trained’ dancers on the show." Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and is available on iPlayer..
