Matt Willis has leapt to the defence of wife Emma as he insisted that the presenter “doesn’t pay attention” to the criticism over her new role at Strictly Come Dancing.
Emma, 50, along with comedian Josh Widdicombe and dancer Johannes Radebe, is one of the trio of new presenters at Strictly’s helm following the departure of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
With weeks of live shows now having aired, many viewers have criticised the new set-up and questioned why a third presenter is needed.
Appearing on This Morning on Thursday (8 October), Busted rocker Matt – who co-hosts Love Is Blind UK with Emma – insisted that his wife was “so happy” and “smashing it” on Strictly.
Asked about the negative criticism Emma, Radebe and Widdicombe had faced, Matt, 43, said: “She doesn’t pay attention to anything, she’s very good at doing her job. She just puts her head down, does her job the best she can.
“She loves working with Josh and Jojo (Radebe) and they’re great and they’re brilliant and they’re lovely people and they’re just in all of this together.”
Emma, who is best known for hosting The Voice and Big Brother, has managed to evade most of the criticism during Strictly’s presenter reboot, with viewers comparing her to long-time host Tess Daly in her ability to keep the show on the straight and narrow.
Radebe, 39, a former Strictly pro himself, has taken on a role closer to Claudia Winkleman’s in speaking to the contestants after their dances.
Widdicombe, 43, has however been deemed something of a spare part, particularly when standing with Willis on the dance floor following each performance.
In a three-star review of the first live show, The Independent’s Isobel Lewis wrote that Widdicombe’s “strong comedic impulses” were “preventing him from being a good presenter”.
“This gag-at-all-costs attitude works for comedy or even solo presenting, but in a group, it felt awkward and stilted,” she wrote.
“The trio have previously said that they’ll all be trying out different roles throughout the series – while Radebe seems made to fill Winkleman’s shoes, maybe Widdicombe would do better in the more casual spot away from the main stage. But that doesn’t help the feeling that he is a problem the show needs to solve.”
This format was mixed up on Sunday (4 October) in the first results show of the series, where Radebe and Widdicombe debriefed with the contestants and Emma stayed on the dancefloor solo, earning praise from the viewers.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 10 October at 6.15pm on BBC One.
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