BBC Strictly’s Lewis Cope hits back at ‘bizarre’ accusations

Strictly Come Dancing star Lewis Cope has hit back at accusations that he has an unfair advantage on the show, after he topped the leaderboard and scored the first 10 of the series

Strictly Come Dancing sensation Lewis Cope has fired back at claims regarding his dance background, after topping this week’s leaderboard and bagging the series’ first perfect 10.

The ex-Emmerdale star, who kicked off his career in the West End’s Billy Elliot before reaching the final of reality show Got To Dance, is going head-to-head with contestants including Amber Davies, Vicky Pattison, Ross King, Alex Kingston and Ellie Goldstein.

Whilst he’s already wowed the judges with his Paso Doble to The Plaza of Execution from The Mask of Zorro alongside professional partner Katya Jones during Movie Week, Lewis has faced claims that he enjoys an unfair edge thanks to his industry background.

READ MORE: Strictly viewers pick up Anton’s ‘too much’ comment as he thinks microphone is offREAD MORE: Strictly star Stefan Dennis wife details ’emergency’ hospital dash

But he’s now fought back, declaring: “I don’t really know where all that came from, to be honest.

“I trained as an actor, I danced a bit when I was a teen, but haven’t since. It’s only ever really been acting for me for a long, long time – so I don’t really know where that came from,” reports Teesside Live.

Emphasising that he hasn’t had any dance training since the age of 11, he continued to Metro: “I don’t really take notice of it though – everyone’s so strong, and anyone can pull out a brilliant performance at any point.”

Lewis added: “To call me professionally trained or a professional dancer seems a bit bizarre, especially now that I’m working with these pros on the show.

“It’s kind of an insult to them, really, to suggest I’m on their level when they’ve dedicated their lives to becoming as brilliant as they are.

This comes after a Strictly expert hit back at the “fix” claims in an exclusive interview.

Dr Kathryn Stamp previously shared: “It’s a challenging one because there are certain skills that come from learning a body-based activity, but then you could say the same for sports people, like bodily awareness and balance and control, they’re going to have that but that doesn’t mean they’re going to do well on Strictly, it’s not an immediate factor.

“It’s the same with an actor or musician or singer, they’ll have something useful in their job because they are a performer, so they might not have the physical technique from dance training but they’ll have something else.”

She added: “You could look back at the history of Strictly and pick out a number of people who have had some sort of dance background and didn’t do very well, just as much as you can point out people who did do well… there’s just not a clear pattern.”

After being announced as part of the Strictly line-up, replacing Game of Thrones actor Kristian Nairn, Lewis shared: “I’m so excited to be swapping the Dales for the dance floor and joining this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. I’ve always been a fan of the show and cannot wait to get started!”

Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.