“UNSYMPATHETIC” Piers Morgan bluntly told Charlotte Hawkins she “bombed” during her panicked performance on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend and quipped she had been “drinking too much” for Dutch courage beforehand.
The “horrified” broadcaster went as far as to say his co-star would be “thrown under the bus” by her professional partner, Brendan Cole, should she fail to impress in this Saturday’s Tango – and quizzed whether she was putting in enough hours of training.
On Saturday, the mum-of-one scored just 12 points with a Cha Cha Cha performance that was branded a “dance disaster” by judges.
Even her silver sparkle eyeshadow and stunning gold dress couldn’t distract from the blunders during her Cha Cha Cha, and she was left visibly distressed as the judges gave their critique.
Earlier in the show, she revealed her fear over a tricky sequence of spins yet after seemingly forgetting some steps, judge Craig Revel Horwood suggested the routine was too complicated.
Yet fortunately for the newsreader she survived the Dance Off last night and progressed to Week Three, with Holby City star Chizzy Akudolua booted off yesterday.
Not holding back on his feedback Piers, 53, told Charlotte on today’s GMB: “I was horrified.
“I thought you were going to be really good on this.”
Earlier in the show, Piers quizzed: “Are you putting in enough hours of practise?” to which Charlotte looked stunned and swiftly replied: “Yes I’m putting in eight hours after every GMB.”
In his typical no frills manner he added: “You bombed.”
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He continued: “I take an interest because you are representing us.
“Had you been drinking a little too much – for Dutch Courage?”
Charlotte, who was doing her best to play down Piers’ incessant critique admitted: “I had been worried about the spin, and I messed up another bit,” as a clip of her dance played out.
she went on to issue a heartfelt thanks to everyone who voted.
Meanwhile fellow GMB host Susanna Reid, who was a runner-up on Strictly’s 11th series, tried to reassure her colleague.
She told her the Cha Cha Cha was the trickiest routine to master and insisted after her blunder, she would go on to “fly.”
GMB viewers also took to Twitter to show their support for Charlotte.
One wrote: “Nothing worse than someone bringing you down I’m with @CharlotteHawkns all the way It’s week 2 practice makes perfect 💃#gmb.”
Another put: “I’m right behind @CharlotteHawkns I think she will improve #GMB #Strictly,” as a third rounded off with: “@piersmorgan leave @CharlotteHawkns be! She’s doing her best and you mock criticizing her isn’t helping anyone! Gp #TeamCharlotte #scd.”
After her frustrating dance on Saturday, Charlotte trailed way behind Alexandra Burke and Debbie McGee, who landed top of the leaderboard.
The morning TV show star was left on the verge of tears after nerves got the better of her during the routine.
After struggling to get certain spins right during rehearsals, the luck of the night didn’t work for her and she looked devastated as the fiery routine went horribly wrong.
Charlotte was shown no mercy by Sharp-tongued judge Craig Revel-Horwood, who said: “[It was] A complete dance disaster, but on a positive at least you’ll never have to do that dance again.”
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Her partner Brendan Cole was also chastised by the judges for giving her such a complicated routine so quickly, and said he should’ve made it simpler.
But Darcey Bussell told Charlotte not to give up and insisted she must have struggled to get the acting right as well as counting her steps.
She said: “To flirt on live TV is not an easy thing and you recovered well from you losing your timing, but you’ll come back stronger.”
The night was ruled by Debbie McGee, who saw off fierce competition from Alexandra Burke and Aston Merrygold to land herself the top spot on tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard.
Paul Daniel’s widow, 58, and Giovanni performed a Viennese Waltz to She’s Always A Woman by Billy Joel – and she wowed the judges with her fancy footwork, taking a combined score of 34 to put her top.
Aston and Janette Manrara left the audience in the studio and at home stunned with an impressive salsa that included a series of difficult lifts that verged on the dangerous.
After pulling the moves off, the audience gave the pair a standing ovation.
Impressed Bruno Tonioli branded Aston a “snake-hipped wonder” and told them: “I’ve never seen such a difficult sequence of lifts in a salsa ever before.
“It was almost perfection. The last lift wasn’t quite so balanced, but a smidgeon from perfection.”
However, their professional performance divided those at home with some feeling it was unfair that someone with professional training was being given such high praise on the show.
This Morning star Ruth Langsford left fans worried she may have to bow out of tonight’s show after a last minute injury yesterday meant she was unable to complete rehearsals.
Thankfully she was able to compete and the judges said that her routine was “100% better” than last week’s.
Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez did the unthinkable and closed the show with a complete standing ovation from the judges panel.
Even Craig, who is known for his cold demeanour, praised the pair for their fantastic and feisty Paso Doble and made a point to stand up for them too.
They performed their sizzling routine to Ven a Bailar by Jennifer Lopez.
They then received straight nines from all four judges, which made them top of the leaderboard this week.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the cumulative board, and they placed a still respectable third overall.
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