‘Sit down!’ Craig and Shirley clash in heated Strictly row over Helen Skelton

Strictly: Craig Revel Horwood tells Shirley Ballas to ‘sit down’

The remaining eight Strictly Come Dancing contestants travelled to the most famous dance floor on Saturday night, after being away for three years. The Blackpool Ballroom welcomed the celebrities with open arms as they gave their best performances in a bid to impress the judges and to stay in the competition. However, Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas entered into a bickering match on Saturday evening after they were divided over Helen Skelton’s performance.

As their performance came to an end, they faced the judges for their opinions with both Shirley and Motsi Mabuse giving them a standing ovation.

Commenting on her performance, Craige exclaimed: “I thought your frame was a little bit hoedown, but your foot…”

Motsi could be heard booing him from the side before Shirley stood up to confront him about his comments.

He snapped back: “Shirley, sit down in that lampshade outfit,” before he continued: “But I have to say, your footwork was exceptional.”

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‘Sit down!’ Craig and Shirley clash in heated Strictly row over Helen Skelton (Image: BBC)

Helen and Gorka stunned the judges (Image: BBC)

Shirley clapped back: “Helen! How you have grown, from week one, to now is just beyond me. You have left me speechless.

“In fact, I have no words to say that can make that any better. It was absolutely superb.”

Anton Du Beke was blown away by their performance and added: “You know why we come to Blackpool? For that reaction, you were amazing!

“You have been brilliant from the neck down through this whole competition, tonight, you were great from the neck up, well done!”

Shirley and Criag entered into a heated debate over their performance (Image: BBC)

‘Sit down!’ Craig and Shirley clash in heated Strictly row over Helen Skelton (Image: BBC)

Speaking to Claudia after receiving their comments, Helen touched on how much she loved the dance and said: “You know when you were a kid and you run down a hill and you think your legs are going so fast they are going to fall off?

“That’s what it felt like, it was just that joy and for me, I came into this to have a good time and enjoy and that was just…

“All week he kept asking me ‘what’s funny?’ and I was like ‘This it’s so good.’ Sometimes as an adult, you don’t take them moments of just pure joy, we were just cantering around the studio.”

Receiving their scores from the judges, Craig awarded the pair a nine, with Motsi Mabuse, Shirley and Anton all giving them a 10.

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Head judge Shirley took to her Instagram on Saturday afternoon to pay homage to her memories at Blackpool.

Alongside an array of photos from her time dancing, she penned: “In the excitement of @bbcstrictly returning to Blackpool tonight, I found these photos of me dancing at the Tower Ballroom almost 50 years.

“Wow. What memories. I was 4th in the North of England Ballroom championship. Semi-final of the Latin championship.

“David Fleet was my first ever boy partner. Fabulous experience. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Last week saw Tony Adams forced to pull out of the competition due to sustaining an injury and letting Tyler and Dianne Buswell to go through to Blackpool.

Speaking about his journey, Tony told presenter Tess Daly: “It’s been emotional guys, I cried for the first month.

“I came in here with one message, if you’ve got an issue with mental health then please don’t suffer in silence and reach out for help.

“Little did I know that I was going to learn a lot about myself in the process. I thought this ‘journey’ rubbish was nonsense, but my god the rollercoaster of emotion.”

Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday from 7:45pm on BBC One, followed by the results on Sunday.