Strictly star fires back at viewer over Graeme Hall criticism after he dodges dance off

Strictly Come Dancing pro Lauren Oakley had some choice words for a “sofa critic” who branded her partner Graeme Hall “atrocious”.

Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly star Hall, 59, has been competing on series 24 of the dance competition show with British dancer Oakley, 35, and has surprised viewers and the judges with his surprisingly nimble movement.

Opening Halloween weekend on Saturday (31 October) night with a zombie-themed samba, however, Hall and Oakley received their second lowest score of the series.

Despite coming joint bottom on the leaderboard, the couple avoided the one-time three-way dance-off, although earned criticism on TikTok from a viewer who commented that dog trainer Hall was “atrocious” and “really needs to go”.

In response, Oakley wrote back: “OK, choice of words can probably be re-evaluated. Do you have dance experience?

“If so, you will understand the effort put into what was actually produced. If not, you’re a sofa critic, and should probably think before typing.”

Oakley continued: “I understand freedom of speech and opinion etc, but a bit more grace would go a lot further when commenting on someone’s time & effort [heart-hands emoji].”

Oakley then reshared her message on her own TikTok feed, explaining that her “comment stands for every contestant”.

“That’s my bestie,” responded fellow Strictly pro Kai Widdrington, while former contestant Vicky Pattison wrote: “GO ON GIRL.”

Hall and Oakley received a total score of 25 from the judges, making them tied bottom of the leaderboard with skeleton racer Tabby Stoecker and pro dancer Mark Karmalita.

Neither of the couples, however, found themselves in this weekend’s bottom three, with actors Bethany Antonia and Jaime Winstone finding themselves in the dance-off once again along with Lawrence Robb.

Tasked with voting to eliminate rather than save, all four judges chose to send Emmerdale star Robb and his partner Jowita Przystał packing.

While the twist was a one-off event for Halloween weekend, it gained major criticism from the show’s viewers, who called the bottom three “harsh” and “pointless”.

Elsewhere in the results show, Hall revealed that he will be dancing his couple’s choice routine next week, with the presenter holding back tears as he shared that the routine would be inspired by the stroke he had in 2019.

“There’s a side that I haven’t really told people about,” he said. “I had a stroke in 2019. I managed to recover fully, but my life changed completely. So, we’ll be telling a little bit about that story next week.”

Oakley, meanwhile, said that the routine would allow Hall to show the public “his softer, tender side”.

Hall, who is nicknamed “The Dogfather”, used to compete in amateur ballroom and Latin competitions, but was forced to stop after suffering his stroke.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 7 November at 6.30pm on BBC One.