"Nothing she’s done has really stood out to me yet."
Balvinder Sopal impressed both judges and viewers with her performance on Strictly Come Dancing but former show pro Brendan Cole had a different view.
For week two, the EastEnders star and partner Julian Caillon performed the Charleston to ‘Been Like This’ by Meghan Trainor and T-Pain.
Dazzling in a baby pink flapper dress, Balvinder’s routine earned an impressive 30 out of 40 from the judges.
The pair ended up making it safely through to week three.
Despite the rave reviews from the judges, Brendan said he found Balvinder’s routine “rather average”.
Brendan, who is currently working with Sky Vegas, exclusively told DESIblitz:
“That sounds harsher than I mean; it’s not meant to be unkind, just honest.
“Nothing she’s done has really stood out to me yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings next week, though.
“When I watch her, my reaction tends to be, ‘That was nice’.
“But the show shouldn’t just be nice. I want to see something that gets people talking – either dreadful in a way that becomes a moment, or brilliant so it blows you away.
“We haven’t had that from Balvinder yet. But I don’t think it’s impossible for her. She’s clearly got potential. I just want to see her push herself a bit further and really make an impact.”
On her pairing with Julian, Brendan added: “I don’t know Julian as a dancer yet – I’d like to give him a few more weeks to prove himself.
“So far, he hasn’t done anything wrong. I don’t think he’s bad at all; in fact, he seems quite competent.
“But until you’re in the training room with someone and see how they work, it’s very hard to judge them properly.
“Ultimately, a professional is limited by the partner they’ve been given.
“If you’re paired with someone like Amber Davies, you can create incredible routines. But if you’re given someone like Chris Robshaw, you’re naturally more restricted; you’re not going to be producing showstopping numbers.
“It’s all about balance, and it’s not necessarily his fault if the partnership isn’t shining yet. That said, the pros are there to make the magic happen, no matter who they’re dancing with.
“Right now, we’ve only seen him for two weeks. I think he’s been good so far but it’s too early to say whether he’s capable of delivering that magic yet. Time will tell.”
Balvinder may have scored 30 in week two but when it comes to how far she’ll go in the competition, Brendan feels she can “make it about halfway”.
He continued: “I haven’t seen anything yet that suggests she’ll be anywhere near the final – there are just too many strong couples this year.
“From what I’ve seen, she’s sitting comfortably in the middle of the table.
“Last week, she was mid-pack, and I thought the same again this week. Even with a good score, I’d say she’s a middle-of-the-table contestant overall. I hope she proves me wrong.”
On how she could improve, Brendan added:
“Balvinder is very good but for me, she’s not outstanding.”
“Her performance was fine, quite nice, but nothing that really grabbed me. I started watching and thought, ‘It’s okay’, but I didn’t see enough to change my view that she’s sitting around the middle of the table.”
Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon will now compete in Movie Week, which will see Wicked star Cynthia Erivo be a guest mentor to the contestants.
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