James Jordan calls Strictly Come Dancing controversy ‘two isolated incidents’

Watch James Jordan calls Strictly Come Dancing controversy ‘two isolated incidents’

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James Jordan has claimed the Strictly Come Dancing training controversy was limited to "two isolated incidents", saying he believes the BBC show has a long future ahead of it.

The former pro dancer cast member appeared alongside other ex-Strictly stars including Brendan Cole, Pasha Kovalev, Ian Waite and Vincent Simone on Tuesday's This Morning to promote their new tour, Legends of the Dancefloor.

Addressing the recent headlines about dancers' treatment of celebrity contestants, Jordan added that he thought the majority of people taking part had "an amazing experience".

What, how, and why?

As Strictly Come Dancing's 20th anniversary year gets going amid recent controversies about training room behaviour, former star James Jordan has claimed that the complaints were about "two isolated incidents".

Neither Giovanni Pernice nor Graziano Di Prima have returned to the BBC One series this time after allegations about their behaviour towards celebrity partners Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott during rehearsals last year. Pernice rejected the claims against him. Di Prima said he kicked McDermott by mistake and later he told The Daily Mail: "I am not a monster. I am not abusive."

But Jordan told This Morning he did not believe it was a wider problem for the show.

He said: "It's sad, of course, because it is such a family show. We love the show, I watch it with my four-year-old daughter, she loves the show.

"These are two isolated incidences. Apart from that, if you speak to most people, 99% of the people who've done Strictly, they've had such an amazing experience. So we're talking about two incidents over 20 years. It's such a shame it's happened at this crucial moment in Strictly history. The show is amazing, I think it's going to go on for many more years to come. I still love watching it."

Jordan and his fellow former Strictly stars were promoting their new tour and asked for his take on the story, Pasha Kovalev said: "I think the measures were taken and we should focus on positivity, what the show brings to the family. Everyone can watch it at home and have a lot of fun."

Asked earlier in the interview how Strictly had changed over 20 years, Brendan Cole joked: "They've got chaperones now!"

He added that Kovalev had been injured during training for their tour because of the physical nature of dancing, saying: "It's intense, you're going to have accidents. We've had a punch in the face, we've had a broken finger, it's how it works. It's also what makes it so exciting."

Asked whether the pressure to perform had gone too far, Jordan said: "The reason it's so successful today is because of how good people were on the first series. As dancers and choreographers, we want to win and we do push the celebrities as hard as we can, but it's an amazing concept. What a great thing for the celebrities to be able to do, to go on a show and be able to learn a skill."

Kovalev, who married Rachel Riley after being partnered with her on Strictly, agreed: "But also celebrities coming in now have been exposed to all the success of the show before. They want to do better, they want to push themselves to the next level."

But host Cat Deeley joked: "They want to get a husband and two children!"

What else did the Strictly stars say?

Brendan Cole also looked back at starting out on the show in 2004 and reminisced about how different things were in the early seasons of Strictly.

He said: "There are aspects of the show that you remember. We didn't know what it was going to be. Strictly was this little growing thing and it's all over the world now."

Ian Waite added: "It was just a room with some curtains. The judges were sort of sat on each other."

Cole said: "Back in the day there was a beauty about it that is different now. Like everything, shows grow - more lights, more bells, more whistles. There was a magic about it then."

This Morning airs on ITV1 at 10am on weekdays.

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