Nick Knowles slams Strictly fans complaining about Tony Adams – saying it’s ‘not a dance contest’
NICK Knowles has hit back at unhappy Strictly Come Dancing fans and insisted the show is "not a dancing competition".
The DIY SOS host, 60, spoke out after CBBC star Molly Rainford was left in tears at landing in the bottom two - yet football icon Tony Adams sailed through.
Molly trained at the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School in London yet her impressive dance skills have failed to impress viewers at home.
Tony, meanwhile, has consistently escaped the bottom two despite repeatedly scoring low marks by the judges for his moves.
This weekend, he and partner Katya Jones picked up just 21 points from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.
Yet Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds and her partner Nikita Kuzmin were given the chop after a dance off with Molly and Carlos Gu - even though they had scored 33.
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Strictly fans were furious with the outcome and even branded it a "fix".
But Nick has now hit out at disgruntled viewers and described the BBC series as an "entertainment show" - not a "dancing" contest.
Taking to Twitter, he moaned: "Can I just point out to everyone @bbcstrictly is an entertainment show not strictly a dancing competition - otherwise those that went to drama college & learned dance would have an unfair advantage over those that never have.
"It’s the one who connects with the audience that wins.";
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But challenging his views, one fan asked Nick: "Then why bother with dance experts as judges - they are no more qualified to decide what is entertaining than jo public."
Another added: "That's not what the judges are saying, they say 'its a dance contest, by this week you should be this standard....'"
And a third said: "Sorry Nick, it’s ridiculous now, Tony Adams is getting shed fulls of votes from Arsenal fans\ supporters, so it’s totally unfair voting system!"
Nick was, however, quick to defend his comments, saying: "I’m not questioning it’s integrity at all - I’m just saying it’s an entertainment show.
"People seem to be getting very upset the best dancers aren’t necessarily getting through but if it was a dancing competition only then it would be full of only professional dancers."
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Agreeing, one of Nick's followers chimed in: "For most people, if you ask them which celebrities they remember from over the years, they say John Sergeant, Ann Widdecombe, Ed Balls doing Gangnam. The programme is meant to be entertainment."
And someone else said: "Tbf, anything that involves the public vote is always going to be on popularity not skill."
Strictly Come Dancing continues at 6.55pm, ITV1, Saturday November 12
