
Strictly Come Dancing professional Katya Jones leapt to the defence of her partner, Lewis Cope, after receiving criticism this weekend.
The Russian pro, who has been part of Strictly since 2016 and lifted the Glitter Ball once, has been paired with Emmerdale actor Lewis, 30, this series in a fan-favourite duo.
It’s safe to say Lewis and Katya, 36, have impressed the Strictly judges each week with their routines, even scoring a 10 for their Movie Night paso doble.
However, week 4 saw judge Anton Du Beke offer some advice, which Katya was quick to fire back at.
Following their foxtrot, for which they received a standing ovation in the studio, Anton told the couple: ‘What a song! What a dance! I could talk to you for 10 minutes, but I’ve got no time.
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‘Beautiful. Movement, beautiful; the feel was gorgeous, smooth… all the beautiful things you want from a foxtrot. Musicality, stylisation, characterisation… great.’


‘I want you to work on this part of dancing,’ he then instructed. ‘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.
‘You’ve been told to put your frame up; you put your frame up. You’ve been told to put your posture up, so you put your posture up.’
Reminding Anton where those remarks initially came from, Katya responded: ‘You told us! You told us to fix the elbows!’
‘I promise you, I want you to do that,’ Anton countered, assuring the pair that he’s on their side.
‘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.’
As for the rest of the judges’ comments, Craig Revel Horwood said Lewis probably ‘put too much power or energy into some of the moves’. Still, he praised the performer for having ‘musicality in abundance’.
Motsi Mabuse also complimented Lewis for ‘taking on’ the advice she’s given, while Shirley Ballas pointed out the ‘lovely footwork’ and declared that the routine was ‘first class’.
Lewis and Katya ultimately scored 34 points, including two nines, sending them soaring up the leaderboard, with Katya full of praise for her celeb partner afterwards and how much she ‘loves’ dancing with him.
But over on social media, viewers had plenty to say about Anton’s feedback, defending Katya.


X user @KDCunliffe called her routine ‘exquisite’, while @Imogen_Alanah wrote: ‘Katyas choreography will always be supreme in my eyes’.
‘Why are they harsh on Lewis & Katya?’, asked @tropicalsocks.
‘Lewis and Katya have the best chemistry this series, no arguments’, stated @slinehan1.
‘no way did katya just argue with anton… girl’, @blhtrixya wrote, taken aback by the tense exchange.
‘get antons a** katya’, joked @katyajcnes.
Lewis and Katya’s latest performance follows the musical theatre star’s response to backlash from his Strictly casting after trolls accused him of having ‘professional experience’, putting him at an unfair advantage.

Speaking exclusively to Metro, the former soap star, who was brought in to replace Kristian Nairn after he dropped out of Strictly, assured people that he hasn’t trained professionally since he performed in Billy Elliot at the age of 11.
Lewis, who was also a finalist on the reality TV series Got To Dance, explained: ‘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.’
‘I don’t really take notice of it, though—everyone’s so strong, and anyone can pull out a brilliant performance at any point.’
Lewis added that to ‘call [him] professionally trained or a professional dancer seems a bit bizarre, especially now that [he’s] 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.’
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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