A star of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing has hit back at claims that he ‘shouldn’t be allowed to compete’ in the show.
The subject of ‘experienced’ dancers has once again reared its head this year, with the inclusion of Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope and former Love Island star Amber Davies – both of whom have prior experience in stage musicals.
This sparked debate as Love Island’s Amber Gill spoke up earlier this month, commenting on Instagram: ‘Unpopular opinion: I think having people with so much dance experience is unfair.’
Chris Robshaw’s ‘protective’ wife then weighed in, describing the ‘experience differences’ as ‘absolutely wild.’
She later backtracked on these comments, but the debate rages on regardless – with Lewis, 30, now sharing his thoughts in the matter.
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Describing himself as an ‘actor’ first and foremost, Lewis has rebuked any suggestion that he might have an unfair advantage in the competition.
Speaking to The Sun, Lewis said: ‘I don’t even know where this is all coming from, to be honest, because I haven’t trained professionally as a dancer — I’ve trained professionally as an actor.
‘I haven’t danced for about 12 years, and even when I did dance when I was younger, I was with a hip-hop dance crew for a couple of years.
He added: ‘And then I did one role in Billy Elliot where I did one tap dance and that was when I was 11, which is nearly 20 years ago.’
Lewis played the role of Billy’s best friend in the stage production of Billy Elliot – and only had one dance routine.
Lewis continued: ‘So I don’t really understand where the pressure of this ‘professionally trained dancer’ is coming from. Because I certainly don’t feel that way at all.
He went on to describe such criticism as an ‘insult’ and a ‘disservice’ to partner Katya Jones, who really has been working as a professional dancer for the past 30 years.
Lewis previously brought the issue up with Metro.co.uk, explaining: ‘I don’t really know where all that came from, to be honest.
‘I trained as an actor; I danced a bit when I was a teen, but haven’t since.
‘It’s only ever really been acting for me for a long, long time—so I don’t really know where that came from.’
He continued: ‘To call me professionally trained or a professional dancer seems a bit bizarre, especially now that I’m working with these pros on the show. It’s kind of an insult to them, really, to suggest I’m on their level when they’ve dedicated their lives to becoming as brilliant as they are.’
Katya, in turn, came to Lewis’s defence following this Saturday’s episode of the show, after judge Anton Du Beke told them that they need to be more ‘together.’
After describing their foxtrot as ‘beautiful,’ Anton said: ‘I want you to work on this part of dancing. You’re dancing with Katya; I want you to dance together. And it’s quite different.
‘I want your arms to be more receptive to her.’
Defending their performance, Katya replied: ‘You told us! You told us to fix the elbows!’
‘I promise you, I want you to do that,’ Anton replied. ‘But now I want you (Lewis) to say, “I’m doing this, not on my own anymore, but with a partner.”
‘So I want you to envelop her (Katya) in your frame. I want you to stand beautifully, but more naturally.
‘I don’t want to be a contradiction, because there’s not much you need to do.’
When all was said and done, Lewis and Katya scored 34 points – including two nines – which put them at the top of the leaderboard as the episode ended.
Strictly Come Dancing returns tonight at 6:15pm on BBC One.
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