Simon Rimmer, the latest celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing, has said the BBC show has a “southern bias”.
Speaking to Zoe Ball on last night’s Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, the Merseyside TV chef made the claim while pledging his support for contestant Gemma Atkinson: "At the end of the day, you do know that Strictly is very southern-biased… There's never been a northern winner. Northern powerhouse Gemma Atkinson, go on you!"
And Rimmer is completely right about a northerner not winning the glitterball trophy. If you don’t count series two’s Tyne and Wear winner Jill Halfpenny. Or series three’s Barnsley-bred Darren Gough. Or fellow Scouse Abbey Clancy, winner of series 11.
Rimmer was axed from the contest after last weekend’s Halloween spooktacular special where he and professional partner Karen Clifton failed to win over the judges with their spooky American Smooth to Delilah by Tom Jones.
Judge Craig Revel Horwood described it as a “dance of the living dead – rigor mortis had set in, it was so stiff!” Darcey Bussell judged the dance as “lumpy” and Bruno Tonioli said it was “an American horror story – I’ve seen lighter articulated lorries”. The pair gained a score of just 16 – ouch!
Simon and Karen then lost the dance-off to Mollie King and her professional partner AJ Pritchard. Although Stroke-born Pritchard is a definite northerner, the Saturdays singer was born in Wandsworth, London. DUM DUM DUMMM!
Strictly Come Dancing continues on this Saturday at 6.50pm on BBC1
