‘The feeling of just not quite getting it was a bit low for us,’ the dancer shared (Picture: BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing star Dianne Buswell has admitted she’s ‘gutted’ that her attempt at performing the iconic Dirty Dancing lift with Bobby Brazier didn’t go as planned.
During Saturday night’s show, it was revealed that Nigel Harman had been forced to withdraw from the series due to injury, along with his professional partner Katya Jones.
For Musicals Week, Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin topped the leaderboard with a perfect score of 40 for their Moulin Rouge!-inspired Paso doble, with Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola paying homage to Beauty and the Beast, and Annabelle Croft and Johannes Radebe delving into the magic of Wicked.
Dianne, 34, and EastEnders star Bobby, 20, transformed into Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze as Baby and Johnny in the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing.
In the final scenes of the movie, Baby and Johnny perform a sensational dance routine to Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, which ends with a magnificent lift.
Dianne and Bobby attempted to replicate this moment of wonder… but unfortunately, the lift ended up being too shaky, with the professional dancer unable to extend her arms and legs like Baby does in the film.
The lift has been iconic for 36 years since the movie came out (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
After their routine had come to an end, Craig Revel Horwood was the only member of the judges’ panel to point out that the lift had come wrong, saying that it had ‘failed’, despite praising other elements of the performance.
Nonetheless, the pair received two eights and a nine for their dance for a total score of 34 out of a possible 40.
On Instagram, Dianne shared a photo of herself and Bobby in rehearsals, demonstrating that they had managed to pull off the lift perfectly before the live show.
In her caption, the dancer wrote: ‘Gutted the LIFT didn’t go to plan like it had in most rehearsals. But I do have to say we took a risk and didn’t play it safe that dance was hard and so iconic that of course there was pressure to do it justice. And the feeling of just not quite getting it was a bit low for us.’
She continued: ‘HOWEVER Bobby wanted to challenge himself and so did I. Let’s focus on the amazing parts of the dance the fact Bobby was leading me around the floor his hips foot work expression and just overall improvement for a guy who started dancing only 11 weeks ago is incredible!
‘Your strength your movement has improved so so much and I’m sure so many people agree.’
She concluded by saying: ‘We are so excited and grateful to be dancing in the semi finals next week. But I also send my love to Nigel and Katya who have been incredible this whole competition ❤️🙏.’
On X (formerly Twitter), several people expressed their points of view over Bobby and Dianne’s dance and the Dirty Dancing lift.
Who can forget this stunning moment at the end of the movie? (Picture: Vestron/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
‘I give Bobby and Dianne a 7. Let me give you credit for attempting the lift. However, it was very wobbly. The little finishes were quite messy. The basic content was great, and you had rhythm, but it is too iconic for there to be so many mistakes,’ one viewer remarked.
‘How can Bobby and Dianne get higher marks than Annabel and Johannes? The lift failed,’ another quipped, after Annabel and Johannes scored 33 for their Foxtrot.
However, others jumped to their defence, with one individual stating: ’I agree with Craig that “that lift” didn’t work but I didn’t care because Bobby and Dianne are such a joy to watch.’
‘Bobby and Dianne’s Salsa was brilliant – there’s so much pressure to do that iconic lift, but they were fantastic,’ someone else said.
The Strictly Come Dancing results show airs tonight at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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‘The feeling of just not quite getting it was a bit low for us,’ the dancer shared.
