Strictly Come Dancing: legendary pro dancer Vincent Simone has some harsh words in his verdict of Week 10

Vincent Simone was a Strictly pro dancer between 2006 and 2012, partnering with actresses Louisa Lytton, Stephanie Beacham, Natalie Cassidy, Felicity Kendal and Dani Harmer, as well as former S Club 7 star Rachel Stevens, and ex-politician Edwina Currie.

The 44-year-old Italian is also in a professional dance partnership with fellow ex-Strictly dancer Flavia Cacace, and although the pair both left the show in 2013, Vincent remains an avid watcher.

This week, the dancer spoke to ICE36 about what he made of week 10 and we have gone through to pick out some of the best bits from the exclusive chat:

Did the right person go home?

Commenting on Angela Scanlon’s depature, Vincent believed the TV presenter was the right person to go, but implied it was more to do with her partner Carlos Gu’s choreography than anything else.

He said: "I think it was a shame because I don’t think Angela’s Cha Cha Cha was the best performances that we’ve seen her deliver on the dancefloor – her Tango last week was magnificent. When Angela performed her dance, I had to rewind the show because I wasn’t sure I was watching a Cha, Cha Cha. It looked more like a Salsa… The choreography and the musicality of the routine could have been improved.”

Angela ended up in the bottom two alongside Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, where she failed to be saved by Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood.

Reiterating that the judges made the right decision, Vincent adding: “You’re judging Angela against a professional dancer, so the odds were stacked against her to make it through.”

Layton actually got a lower score than normal, was that fair?

Vincent said: “I’ve worked with a lot of people from the West End and musical theatre and Layton’s performance on Saturday shows you that when you have to perform a ballroom dance like a Waltz or a Foxtrot or a Quick Step, dancers with a musical background can really, really struggle. People need to remember that, yes, he is an amazing dancer who makes money from dancing, but it’s not always easy.

“It comes so easy to Layton to move from a-to-b across the dancefloor, he just needs to work on his technique because that is what gives you the extra points from the judges. There wasn’t much technique and his posture was wrong; it looked to me that Layton didn’t work hard enough on this dance.”

Some fans think Nigel Haywood was undermarked again, does he agree?

Vincent replied: “I am sorry Strictly fans, but I have to disagree with you. I think Nigel has been marked fairly throughout the competition. The Rumba is a really hard dance – I know the judges have said that a million times – for a male celebrity.

"What did he score 33? I thought that was the right score. The dance wasn’t worthy of a ten, he could have maybe got a couple more points, but I think it was a pretty fair score.”

Who was Vincent’s favourite?

The professional dancer answered: “I think that Bobby had the best performance of the night followed by Nigel. I really enjoyed Nigel’s Rumba; he really tried. Like Craig said, Nigel has beautiful arms.”

Over all how was the standard this week?

Vincent said: “Every year, people always say that the standard of dancing on the show improves. This is the only week in the show where I haven’t been too impressed with the performances. I was a bit disappointed being honest – I was expecting a bit more.

“The one thing that I can say is that the show as a spectacle improves every single year. The production, sets, costumes and choreography. That is the one thing that has improved a lot since I was on the show. When I was on Strictly, the production was simpler. It was just me and my dance partner, but now the couples have a lot more help and the production value has increased. That makes the overall show better, but has the quality of the dancing? I’m not too sure."

Who will do the best next week?

Despite previously critcisng Layton, Vincent answered: “Musical Week is the perfect theme for Layton to come back and show the judges just how good he is. I’m convinced that he will come back and do what he does best; he will be at the top of the leader board next week that is for sure."