Strictly Come Dancing 2019 contestant Mike Bushell, 53, and his dance partner Katya Jones, 30, found themselves in the dreaded dance-off for the third time last weekend, despite receiving 30 out of 40 points for their Charleston. Thankfully for the BBC Breakfast star, the four judges chose to save him over Viscountess Emma Weymouth and her dance partner Aljaž Škorjanec.
Reflecting on his performance today, the television star insisted one of his mistakes was caused by judge Motsi Mabuse, 38.
Explaining all on BBC Breakfast today, he said: “This week was different because we were quite a way off from the bottom two in terms of the judges’ scores.
“Katya had said all week, ‘This is your dance, this is like your joker, this is your Trump card, you should get good scores this week.”
Sitting alongside his wife Emily, he added: “And while we were pleased with 30, we probably could’ve got a higher mark had I not made a couple of little foot errors in the Saturday night dance.
READ MORE: Viscountess Emma Weymouth reveals secret Strictly injury
“I actually got distracted by Motsi whooping, she was whooping because one of the steps had gone well.
“I thought, ‘Yes!’ and then of course I got slightly distracted, put a foot wrong and then the next swivel was slightly out of time.
“I caught up, but I knew I had made a mistake and the judges did pick up on that.”
The BBC star also addressed his performance on Strictly’s spin-off show It Takes Two this evening.
He added: “After two dance offs in a row, obviously the public vote for their favourites and that’s fantastic. You can never assume anything.
“I always start preparing for the dance off as soon as the Saturday night show’s over,” Mike declared.
He then highlighted that ahead of the dance-off performance, the judges give their advice on how the couple could perform better.
“They say go into this dance off doing exactly the same, just don’t make any mistakes. So, that’s what I did,” he continued.
“I don’t get as nervous as I do in the dance off as I do in the main show. It’s weird.”
This weekend, Mike and Katya Jones will perform a Paso Doble to Tamacun by Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Strictly Come Dancing continues this Saturday at 6.50pm on BBC One.
Strictly: It Takes Two continues tomorrow at 6.30pm on BBC Two.
