Switch-up week in Dancing with the Stars saw some of the contestants really switch-on with a change of partner — but for others it proved to be a real turn-off.
There was no one eliminated in last night’s round, given that each of the amateurs had to contend with learning a routine with a different professional than they were used to. And while each member of the temporary partnerships was politely complimentary about the other, their low scores showed they hadn’t quite clicked.
Munster and Ireland rugby legend Peter Stringer’s cha cha cha with Valeria Milova was apparently far from hip enough. His hips came in for such savage criticism from the judges that, first Loraine Barry told him he should swap the gym for a zumba class for a week and Julian Benson gave a eye-catching practical demonstration complete with hip-thrusts. Overall he scored 16 points.
Young Offenders star Demi Isaac Oviawe’s Charleston with Robert Rowinski was slated by judge Brian Redmond for, well, having no Charleston, while Julian Benson told her to work a little bit harder this week.
Demi decided to fight her corner: “That was so much fun, it was great, I enjoyed it. I was nervous. I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just trying to be honest.”
She only scored 13 points — the lowest of the night.
Dancing with Emily Ward, comedian Fred Cooke’s paso doble, inspired by a bullfighter, raised a few red rags — it was criticised by Loraine Barry for getting too “stompy and marchy”. He scored 14 points.
Johnny Ward’s quickstep with Ksenia Zsikhotska was good on the quick steps but was let down by a lack of swing according to the judges. Nonetheless, with Julian Benson telling him he has massive potential, he scored 19 points.
“Goodness gracious great balls of Bastick” was how Benson reacted to Dublin footballer Denis Bastick’s jive with Giulia Dotta. Loraine was again a stickler for the hips, but nonetheless he was awarded 21 points.
Country music singer Cliona Hagan’s switch up with Vitali Kozmin clearly paid dividends as she scored the first 10 of the series for the samba. Julian called her a “super sexy man-eating samba girl”, while Brian said there was only two words for her sexy samba action: “Oh yeah”. She scored a whopping 28 points.
Another competition favourite, Mairead Ronan, was not far behind her with 26 points for her salsa with Kai Widdrington.
“I was wondering for weeks if you could do latin or not... tonight you proved you’re onyour way to become a luscious latin lady,” was Brian Redmond’s reaction to her performance.
The celebrities will now return to their original pro-dance partners for next week’s show.
