Strictly star Alex Kingston admits her “body is suffering” after brutal score from judges

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Alex Kingston faced the challenge of being the first performer on this week’s Strictly Come Dancing, but her Cha Cha didn’t go as planned. The Doctor Who actress acknowledged she made a number of errors during the dance.

The performance received strong criticism from the judges, with Craig Revel Horwood particularly noting it deteriorated throughout, saying it just kept getting worse.

Alex told Claudia Winkleman that she hadn’t taken offense to his comments, but admitted the intense dancing was starting to wear her down physically as the competition progressed.

Honestly, when I watch the show as a viewer, I usually find myself agreeing with Craig. So now that I’m a participant, it’s hard for me to disagree with him because I realize I’d probably agree with him if I were still watching as a regular viewer.

She added that now is a good time to openly discuss the challenges competitive dancers face. She explained that people rarely talk about the physical toll the sport takes on those performing at a high level.

Claudia noticed everyone else seemed to agree, and Alex chimed in, saying he was conflicted. He joked that his age was protesting the demanding routine, but deep down, he was enjoying himself too much to stop dancing.

There comes a time when you realize this is simply what life is like for a dancer. All the dancers understand what I’m experiencing, and what the other competitors are going through – the physical challenges, the exhaustion, and everything that comes with it – but at the end of the day, it’s still a competition.

Finally, it was time for the judges to share their scores. Craig gave her a 4, while Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas both awarded her a 6, and Anton Du Beke was more generous with a 7.

Her performance earned her a score of 23, which was her lowest so far in the competition, going all the way back to the first week. However, she still has a chance, as the public vote counts too. Tonight’s new Instant Dance challenge could be a game-changer, with extra points available – judge Shirley Ballas even said it would ‘change everything’.

So there’s still plenty to dance for!

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 29th November at 6:35pm.

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2025-11-29 22:34