Strictly Come Dancing fans have rallied around professional dancer Nancy Xu after she expressed her distress.
During tonight’s episode of It Takes Two, Nancy joined Shayne Ward to look back on last week’s performance, which saw them narrowly avoiding elimination in a dance-off against Dr Punam and Gorka Marquez.
Although Shayne, a crowd favourite, was at risk of leaving the show, fans showed their support for him.
Nancy discussed their unique Paso Doble choreography to Grieg’s ‘In The Hall Of Mountain King’ while speaking with It Takes Two host Fleur East. She emphasised: “We are doing an entertainment show, we are here to bring something – that’s why we have a Movie Week, a Halloween week, musicals week.
“It’s not just about correct techniques – important – but it’s also about having fun and making people enjoy our performance. We try and bring everything we possibly could to the show,” to which Shayne voiced his encouragement, commenting: “We did.”
Further discussing their approach, Nancy explained: “We will keep pushing and as much as some people dislike the choreography, there’s also the other side – people like the choreography. I do feel, as a choreographer, we want to make more memories, especially as its the 20th anniversary.”
This heart-to-heart moment on the show spurred viewers to praise her creative choices on social media.
One viewer expressed their disappointment, “I’m sad that Nancy is upset about people not liking her choreography but I stand by thinking it wasn’t good. Also every week on #ItTakesTwo it seems to be a pity party from Shayne and I don’t think this is helping their popularity ngl. #Strictly.”
Another chimed in with support, “Yesss Nancy, it’s an entertainment show! ! Some people take this show way too seriously #Strictly #ItTakesTwo,” while another remarked, “Shayne sounds a bit down by the public’s opinion of him… not sure why he doesn’t appear to be liked… he’s a pretty good dancer, and I think an alright guy… but what do I know.”
A different fan mentioned, “I actually rather liked Shane’s dance (despite my reservations about the meaning of the paso), but I can see that Len would’ve complained about ‘all the mucking about at the start’ #ItTakesTwo #Strictly.”
*Strictly: It Takes Two airs weekdays at 6.30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.