Strictly Come Dancing’s Angela Scanlon was left red-faced as she accidentally revealed a spoiler ahead of Saturday’s series final during an appearance on spin-off show It Takes Two on Friday.
The Irish television presenter, 39, covered her mouth as it dawned on her she may have said too much during a chat with professional dancer Amy Dowden.
Amy, 33, is taking a break as a pro from this year’s Strictly after she was diagnosed with cancer, but appeared on It Takes Two to discuss Angela’s return for one last dance with her partner Carlos Gu, 30, after the pair were given the boot from the competition last month.
Twinkle-toed star Amy asked: ‘Angela, are you looking forward to having one more spin around the ballroom?’
To which Angela replied: ‘Oh, I can’t wait! Also, I love that everyone is getting to do one of their favourite little moments so for myself and Carlos, we’re doing Charleston…’
Suggesting Angela should not have revealed what dance she’d be doing, Amy said: ‘Little spoiler there, little spoiler!
To which Angela exclaimed: ‘Oh sorry, am I not allowed to say that?!’
Angela added: ‘Anyway, you heard it here first! Yeah, so I can’t wait, absolutely very excited to get the old Charleston hat back on!’
It comes after Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas revealed the reason she wanted to vote out Layton Williams in Week 10, after the pair sparked feud rumours.
The outspoken judge stunned viewers when she revealed she wanted to save Angela and Carlos over Layton and Nikita Kuzmin, after both couples found themselves in the dance-off.
While Angela was sent home after Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel-Horwood and Anton Du Beke decided to save Layton, Shirley’s move sparked speculation of a feud with the West End star.
And now Shirley has clarified she wanted to save Angela as she felt there were ‘a lot of elements missing’ from Layton’s American Smooth.
Speaking on It Takes Two on Thursday, she said: ‘He was lucky that the other three saved him.
‘It wasn’t how I had taught American Smooth for 50 years. There were lots of things and elements missing. But I’m glad he’s here now and I’m very very excited to see him in the final.’
Layton will go head-to-head with Ellie Leach and Bobby Brazier in Saturday’s live Strictly final, with each couple performing three dances in a bid to lift the Glitterball Trophy.
Layton narrowly avoided being booted out of the competition after finding himself in the dance off for the first time back in Week 10.
Shirley said in her critique: ‘Well important for me always when it comes to Ballroom and Latin is the character of the dance, that it’s true to the dance, timing and quality and I would have voted for Angela and Carlos.’
Viewers flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter to suggest Shirley ‘has an issue’ with Layton.
‘Between her comments last night and choosing to save Angela tonight, Shirley has an obvious personal problem with Layton and I won’t hear otherwise. I hope this won’t knock his confidence,’ one wrote.
‘So Shirley voted Angela and Carlos because of how Nikita choreo’d? So, is she saying regardless of how Layton performed wether it be well or rotten she was voting against it cos the character of the dance wasn’t right? How’s that Laytons fault?’ pointed out another.
‘It was the right decision to let Layton and Nikita move on to the quarterfinals. @ShirleyBallas was absolutely wrong. The boys deserve a place in the finals,’ insisted a third.
‘Shirley definitely has a problem with Layton, her comments to him this week were bordering on downright rude actually. She also can’t handle boos from the audience.’
Layton himself took to X to admit: ‘That was close! SO grateful to be through to Musicals Week! Being in the bottom two has given me a [fire emoji] up my [peach emoji] Big love to all of our supporters.’
Actor Layton has also revealed that he has fallen victim to online trolls who say he is too experienced at dancing to be on the show.
The star, who is dancing with male professional Nikita, 25, said the level of trolling had been ‘shocking’ and admitted that while Strictly had featured same sex couples in the past, he is the first ‘queer’ contestant to fully express their ‘flamboyant’ personality on the ballroom floor.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s final, he said: ‘Obviously, I was aware of the fact that it might have noise, but I definitely did not anticipate how much it has been because I am definitely not the first person to be in this position and I don’t understand why it’s shock horror news because I’m not the first and won’t be the last, let’s keep it moving, you know?
‘From the very beginning, I’ve been like, cool, if people are going to expect a certain level, let’s give them that and then some.’
Williams – who starred in West End hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – also claimed his critics only lambast him when he is getting high scores and that his social media quietened down during the weeks he received lower scores from the judges, such as when he danced the Viennese Waltz to There Are Worse Things I Could Do from Grease and was given just 28 points out of 40.
‘It has been hard, the pressure of feeling like you have to do well,’ he said.
‘This is the funny thing, no one is going hard and moaning or complaining when I’m rubbish… remember the Viennese Waltz? I didn’t get many tweets that week did I! It’s only when you’re doing cute that people want to drag you down, which is fine, and we have managed to get around that.
‘It has not defined my journey, what has defined my journey has been who we have been able to inspire, not people that are keyboard warriors, they are just a small percentage.’
The trolling echoes 2018 when former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, 42, was vilified for being too much of a talented dancer.
However, in contrast to the online negativity, Williams says when he’s approached by Strictly fans in the street, he is shown a lot of love as he admits starring on one of the BBC’s most watched shows has increased his public profile.
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final is on Saturday 16 December at 7pm, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
