George Clarke is exposing the biggest problem with Strictly Come Dancing

The Strictly Come Dancing Glitterball has been George Clarke’s for the taking but the last two weeks have been tough for the TikTok star – and it’s not his fault. 

After riding high with some of the best scores of the series, peaking at third in Week Two with 30 points when Craig Revel Horwood said with a wink, ‘Watch your back, Lewis [Cope]’  – a nod to the competition’s frontrunner – the last fortnight has been disheartening. 

And, in my opinion, extremely unfair, as Clarke has sunk to the bottom of the leaderboard.

I knew absolutely nothing about Clarke before Strictly. The world of TikTok and its stars is totally alien to me (and I can’t imagine that ever changing).

Very quickly, though, he became one of my favourites in this series. 

Naturally, you need a special kind of personality to amass more than 2.4 million social media followers, but I was completely bowled over by his self-deprecating humour, gentle spirit and the sincerity of his beaming smile – which so often feels forced on Strictly contestants. 

All of that, though, would mean nothing if he weren’t also a great dancer – and he is by far the best performer who hasn’t had any previous training. 

That leaves Lewis Cope as the best dancer this series – possibly one of the best Strictly has ever seen. 

For me, his routine to Radiohead’s Creep with professional partner Katya Jones was the finest I’ve witnessed in 21 years of the show. 

As much as I’d love Clarke, or even Alex Kingston to win, at this point it feels ridiculous to award it to anyone other than the former Emmerdale star. 

Cope certainly no longer needs to ‘watch his back’ around Clarke.

But it feels like the latter is being let down by both the Strictly judges and – I hate to say it – his partner, Alexis Warr, who presumably contributes to the choreography. 

Last week she dominated their entire Cha Cha to Charli XCX’s Apple, which was supposed to showcase his talents, not hers. 

At one point, they even included a snippet of the song’s viral dance routine, which is so intentionally simple it should only be reserved for the very worst Strictly contestants.

It was certainly more lacklustre than the high-energy routines we’re used to, yet Clarke was among the best dancers of the night and still finished fourth from the bottom, ahead only of model Ellie Goldstein (who was eliminated), EastEnders star Balinder Sopal, and Gladiators’ Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who by his own admission made too many glaring errors.

Clarke’s placement in that company felt odd, and that’s because it wasn’t right. 

I’m besotted with both La Voix and Vicky Pattison, two of my favourite personalities in the contest. 

Both showed huge growth on Saturday, particularly the Drag Race UK star, who in just two weeks went from the lowest Week Four score ever to earning 35 points for their Paso Doble.

La Voix’s performance would have been unthinkable a fortnight ago; she absolutely deserved the praise, standing ovation and sizable score. But I can’t honestly say she was better than Clarke – I’m not a professional judge, but quite clearly he showed more technical ability and skill on the night.

Vicky opened Halloween Week with a gorgeous American Smooth, and I love watching the Geordie Shore star more and more each week. In just six weeks, her confidence is unrecognisable compared with the quivering mess who was once so terrified of stepping onto the dance floor.

She could make it to the final, and I’d be thrilled to see her there – but again, there seemed to be less skill in her routine than Clarke’s. Try telling that to the judges. Shirley called it a ‘huge improvement,’ Anton praised her ‘bold’ movements and speed, and both displayed exaggerated enthusiasm for the ‘heel turn’.

The week before that, Clarke was at the very bottom of the leaderboard for his daft but fun performance as Harry Styles in Icons Week. Admittedly, it wasn’t his best, but the judges seemed particularly cruel in their feedback.

Craig said the dance was ‘a little flat-footed, which made it then look a bit stompy,’ and the judges agreed Clarke was out of time – which might have been fair – but it was still quite clearly a league or two above others in the contest.

It’s a problem that has always existed in Strictly but feels more apparent with Clarke than I can remember. Contestants are too often judged against their best performance rather than against their competitors, and it makes the leaderboard seem farcical.

There isn’t a single justification for Clarke being at the bottom, or even anywhere near it, at this stage of the competition – not when at least half of the remaining contestants are weaker dancers who’ve performed weaker routines but somehow scored higher.

The leaderboard should reflect technical ability and performance only. It’s the public who should vote for their favourites based on other factors: the personal journey, likability, or simply who they enjoy spending their Saturday nights with.

This contest is much closer this year than any Strictly before it. Cope, Karen Carney and Amber Davies are all phenomenal dancers, but among the rest, Clarke is the one with the most potential to reach their level, despite having had infinitely less training.

The factors holding him back are beyond his control; the judges’ remarks clearly dented his confidence last week, and needlessly so.

This Saturday, he’ll be performing a Viennese Waltz to Queen’s Somebody to Love. It’s possibly one of my least favourite songs of all time, but I appreciate its anthemic chorus could deliver the impact he needs with viewers who find the band’s back catalogue less unbearable than I do.

It’s also a ballroom style with which Clarke has proven far more comfortable so far. I’m confident he can pull off the comeback he needs to burst back out in front and lead the race to the final again. Let’s just hope the judges agree.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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