Strictly's AJ Odudu And John Whaite Both Struck By Dance Disasters Thanks To Tricky Lifts

Both stars struggled with the trickier aspects of the Salsa as they performed during Saturday's quarter final.

Strictly Come Dancing favourites AJ Odudu and John Whaite both found themselves slipping down this week’s leaderboard after disaster struck their respective Salsa routines. 

Both stars came unstuck with lifts as they performed to try and impress the judges during Saturday’s live quarter final. 

AJ landed at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 30 after she struggled with her final lift, which Craig Revel Horwood labelled “complete dance disaster darling”. 

The TV presenter had performed to Gloria Estefan’s Rhythm Is Gonna Get You with her partner Kai Widdrington.

Anton Du Beke said of the struggle in the final lift: “It went on and on and on, I was like please stop I can’t bear it.”

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Craig Revel Horwood called AJ and Kai's lift "a complete dance disaster"
BBC

Mosti Mabuse said: “Dammit, that ending killed me man. I was just like, ‘girl, come on! Stop the music guys!’,” but she added that it was a “powerful” performance overall. 

Shirley Ballas added: “Like any quarter final championships it takes nerves of steel and your ending went wrong. It was on its way to a 10, just unfortunate.”

Meanwhile, John ended up dropping his partner Johannes Radebe after the pro gave him “the wrong hand” to lift him with. 

 

Johannes ended up falling to the floor at the end of the routine, to which the dancer remarked: “It’s live, anything can happen.”

Craig, who gave the couple a score of seven, said: “I love it when it goes wrong, you had no choice you had to throw him onto the floor.”

Anton joked: “I have lifted partners over the years that I could not wait to put down, it was amazing.”

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John and Johannes also struggled with their final lift
BBC

They ended up scoring an overall total of 32 out of 40 for the dance, and had to settle for third place, behind joint-top scorers Rose Ayling-Ellis and Rhys Stephenson

Rose wowed the judges as she performed a “never seen before” move during an American Smooth with partner Giovanni Pernice

Rhys also picked up a score of 39 as he and partner Nancy Xu impressed with their Argentine Tango routine. 

Meanwhile, Dan Walker and Nadiya Bychkova sat second from bottom with a score of 31 for their Argentine Tango to Santa Maria by Gotan Project.

Find out who is next to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night at 7.20pm on BBC One.

'Strictly Come Dancing': All The Winners
Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole(01 of16)
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Newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky was the first star to ever triumph in the inaugural series of 'Strictly Come Dancing', back in 2004, when there were just seven competitors to beat.Having obviously been a hit with 'Strictly' viewers, she was later chosen to cover for regular presenter Tess Daly, when she went on maternity leave. (credit:BBC)
Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennet(02 of16)
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Clearly sensing they were onto a winner, the BBC decided to kick-start the second series of 'Strictly' just three months after Natasha Kaplinsky's victory, securing its spot in the Saturday night schedule in the latter half of the year.Jill Halfpenny was crowned winner second time around, along with her partner, Darren Bennet. (credit:PA/PA Archive)
Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova(03 of16)
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Darren became the first male celebrity to triumph in the 'Strictly Come Dancing' final in 2005, beating Colin Jackson and eventual 'It Takes Two' presenter Zoe Ball in the process. (credit:Michael Boyd/PA Archive)
Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy(04 of16)
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Cricket player Mark Ramprakash took home the glitter-ball trophy a year later.Here he is performing with his professional partner, Karen Hardy, at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards a year after his victory. (credit:David Davies/PA Archive)
Alesha Dixon and Matthew Cutler(05 of16)
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'Strictly' helped breathe new life into Alesha's career, when she and partner Matthew Cutler were crowned winners.Her smash hit solo single 'The Boy Does Nothing' followed soon after, not to mention a spot on the 'Strictly' judging panel... until Simon Cowell decided to snare her for 'BGT', that is. (credit:BBC)
Tom Chambers and Camilla Dallerup(06 of16)
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'Holby City' actor Tom Chambers' public profile skyrocketed, when he and his professional partner, Camilla Dallerup, were crowned winners of the sixth series.They beat TV presenter Lisa Snowdon and 'Negotiate With Love' singer Rachel Stevens in the live final, back in 2008. (credit:Mark Cuthbert via Getty Images)
Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan(07 of16)
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Chris Hollins gave professional dancer Ola Jordan her first, and so far only, win back in 2010. (credit:BBC)
Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev(08 of16)
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Kara and Artem had a double victory in 2010.Shortly after taking home the glitter-ball trophy, they announced that they were dating. (credit:Rowan Miles/PA Archive)
Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani(09 of16)
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Can we please just take a moment to appreciate this photo? (credit:David Jones/PA Archive)
Louis Smith and Flavia Cacace(10 of16)
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The tenth series was won by Olympian Louis Smith and his professional partner, Flavia Cacace. (credit:Georgie Gillard/Associated Newspapers/REX)
Abbey Clancy and Aljaž Skorjanec(11 of16)
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In the first ever all-female 'Strictly' final, Abbey beat Susanna Reid and Natalie Gumede to the glitter-ball trophy.Fourth place was also a female contestant, with Sophie Ellis-Bextor leaving the competition at the semi-final stage. (credit:Rui Vieira/PA Archive)
Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev(12 of16)
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Caroline Flack, who took part in the competition less than a year after leaving 'X Factor' spin-off show, 'Xtra Factor'. Apparently sensing her popularity was on the rise, Simon Cowell quickly signed her up to host the main show, alongside Olly Murs. (credit:BBC)
Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani(13 of16)
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When the 2015 contestants were first announced, no one would have tipped Jay for victory, particularly after he continuously played down his dancing abilities.

Cut to a couple of months later, though, and that Glitter-ball trophy was his.
(credit:Dave J Hogan via Getty Images)
Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton(14 of16)
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TV presenter Ore Oduba beat off stiff competition from 'Hollyoaks' star Danny Mac who was hot favourite to lift the glitterball trophy in 2016. (credit:PA Archive/PA Images)
Joe McFadden and Katya Jones(15 of16)
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'Holby City' actor Joe was the dark horse of the competition, rising through the ranks as the weeks went on to triumph over Alexandra Burke, Debbie McGee and Gemma Atkinson in the 2017 final. (credit:PA Wire/PA Images)
Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton(16 of16)
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Stacey and Kevin were the surprise winners of the 2018 series, triumphing over other finalists Ashley Roberts, Faye Tozer and Joe Sugg. The pair later went on to begin a relationship. (credit:Aaron Chown - PA Images via Getty Images)