"it was a fairly bad dance.”
Brendan Cole didn’t hold back when assessing Balvinder Sopal’s latest Strictly Come Dancing performance, saying she “looked like she was out for a gentle stroll in the park”.
The EastEnders star found herself in the dreaded dance-off after receiving one of the lowest public vote counts.
Despite scoring 26 points for her Foxtrot to ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ with professional partner Julian Caillon, Balvinder still landed in the bottom two.
Ultimately, Ross King ended up becoming the second contestant to be eliminated.
While viewers were shocked that Balvinder was in the dance-off, former Strictly professional dancer Brendan Cole said her technical execution held her back.
Brendan, who is currently working with Sky Vegas, exclusively told DESIblitz:
“Balvinder could have done better in the technical aspect of the dance.
She needed more tone throughout her body and more extension in everything she did – just that extra bit of strength and presence.
“It’s the lack of tone in the muscles that lets her down and it would appear the teaching from her pro. It looked to me like he’s not a ballroom dancer and if that’s the case, what chance did she have?
“I’m not saying she’s weak – it just looked weak because she’s not carrying that muscular tone through the movement and certainly not powering across the floor.
“I believe she’s capable but unless he knows what he is doing and is pushing her accordingly, it’s not going to happen.”
Brendan explained that true ballroom strength comes from internal energy and body control but with Balvinder, “there was none of that”.
He added: “She looked like she was out for a gentle stroll in the park – lovely to watch aesthetically, but you want it to feel like it’s a proper and energetic stroll, with intention and energy in every step.”
Brendan believed Balvinder’s softer technique likely contributed to her being in the dance-off:
“In dance, your whole body should have tone and an energy running through it, from the tip of your finger to your little toe.
“That tone constantly shifts throughout the varying technique – that’s what creates an amazing performance, when everything works together so it looks soft and effortless but still has that underlying power.
“With Balvinder, she just looked soft and gorgeous, which is lovely, but it’s not enough. With that, together with her partner’s lack of ballroom ability, it was a fairly bad dance.”
Nevertheless, Brendan agreed with the judges’ decision to keep Sopal in the competition:
“The judges probably made the right decision to send Ross King home.”
“Ross’ dance was ridiculous, but he did what he was given and there was just no saving it. Even if he’d done it really well, it was such a dreadful concept that he probably didn’t stand a chance.
“Balvinder’s performance, for all its faults, was pretty, but it lacked any technique, which ultimately meant she was plodding round a dance floor.
“As far as I’m concerned, what one dance lacked, the other had and vice versa. It was hard to compare the two in that moment; ultimately, they were both pretty average.”
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