Angela Rippon made it all the way to Blackpool in her Strictly Come Dancing journey with partner Kai Widdrington. However, despite impressing viewers with her youthful energy and skills in the Ballroom, the legendary BBC journalist faced more than her fair share of backlash in the competition, and she has now addressed the controversy.
The Rip Off Britain host sailed through two dance-offs before she lost out to Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell in the legendary Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Unfortunately for the 79-year-old TV star, some Strictly viewers were incensed that she had knocked out fan favourite Krishnan Guru-Murthy and prior to that, Adam Thomas, despite making some “mistakes” in her performances.
Speaking out on the backlash, Angela admitted in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk that although it was “hard” to face off against her friends for a place in the competition, she was fully aware of how the programme works. The former Come Dancing presenter candidly said: “You know, it’s an entertainment programme.
“And the thing is, I think there were 15 of us that started out, but only three people are going to be in the final, and only one is going to win. So you know that along the way, people are going to be eliminated, and you know that before you start – so that is something that happens in the programme.
“You know that along the way, you’ll lose people – if it’s 15 people, 12 people are going to have to go. You just know that along the way each week someone is going to have to be eliminated. And you just have to prepare yourself for that and accept it.”
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Seeming unfazed by the criticism, Angela acknowledged that viewers will be passionately backing their favourites to make it through each week.
She added: “And, obviously, if you’re a viewer, you want your favourite to stay in, but only one person is going to lift that Glitterball out of all the ones that started.
“So everyone else has had to go through that awful moment of standing under the red light and being told, ‘Yes, you have to be in the dance-off’, and then listen to the judges as they decide which one it’s going to be.
“It’s part of what you do as part of the programme, and I think as the pool gets smaller, you prepare yourself for the fact that this week – it could be you.
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“And my attitude was, I had a wonderful, wonderful adventure during the programme, and we’re so grateful to the thousands of people who supported me, not only by voting for me, but in the messages that they sent.
“And I was completely overwhelmed by the reaction that I’ve had from people – I am enormously flattered by it, and grateful for it.”
Explaining she is a “pragmatist”, Angela didn’t feel too disappointed when her Strictly journey came to an end back in November.
The star divulged: “Obviously it was going to come to a standstill at some point, and I’m a pragmatist, and, you know, that’s what’s going to happen. So you just prepare for it, really.”
It comes after some Strictly viewers claimed Angela and Kai were only being given “slow Ballroom dances” to perform each week, avoiding some of the more fast-paced Latin routines that other couples struggled with.
Both Angela and Kai were quick to hit back at the criticism, after taking on the Quickstep and Charleston, which both require plenty of movement across the dance floor.
Amazon is working with Angela Rippon to raise awareness of the power of technology to help reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation. The study, which provided Amazon Echo devices to people aged 65+ across the UK finds that 81% of elderly people felt less alone by using an Alexa-enabled device.
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