Former Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard has clashed with TV host Jeremy Kyle after the latter branded the show "so woke it's unwatchable".
Jeremy – who used to have his own self-named show on ITV – was filling in for Piers Morgan on Wednesday’s Piers Morgan: Uncensored, aired on TalkTV, as he discussed BBC's most-celebrated show.
He and TalkTV’s Kevin O’Sullivan sat down with professional dancer AJ, 27, and his brother Curtis Pritchard, 26.
Not holding back on his criticism of the BBC show, Jeremy, 57, said: “So Strictly Come Dancing was once the staple of Saturday night TV with over 10 million people tuning in every week.
“But there are now claims it has become a ‘box-ticking exercise’ and has become so woke it’s unwatchable.
“From having same-sex couples with absolutely zero chemistry to Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds who has knocked down barriers her whole life, but how will the show’s first contestant with dwarfism be able to perform dances like the tango and the waltz when her dance partner is twice her size?”
AJ, who used to be a professional on the show, jumped in to defend it, calling it "British" and "brilliant", without allowing himself to be swayed onto whether it had gotten 'woke'.
Jeremy then looked to Kevin for backup, asking him: "Has it gone woke?"
Kevin replied: “I used to have to watch Strictly every week because in another life I was a TV critic. The point is, I respect the fact that it was a great show that millions of people absolutely love.
“The BBC has turned it into a sort of woke-fest with single-sex couples, we’ve got Ellie now with dwarfism, they’re very proud of that.
“Now that’s fine, if the BBC want to do that, that’s fine. But they should ask themselves, ’Is that what the audience wants?’
“Because in my day when I had to watch it, the launch show used to get 15 million, this launch show just now got just over six million. So the audience seems to be saying no.”
Jeremy then said: “Are the BBC doing what the BBC are great at in telling us what we should think and what’s right and what’s wrong rather than letting us watch a programme?”
AJ, who just broke up with his girlfriend Abby after four years together, cut in, saying: “You [Kevin] hit the nail on the head, you said they’re proud of it, they’re proud to show the diversity, they’re proud to be inclusive and I think that’s a really positive thing in this day and age.
“If they didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be happy,”
Kevin furthered his point as he said: "Allison Pearson [Telegraph columnist] got it right, she said she’s still sort of enjoying the show but she said that watching Strictly now is like being smashed in the head with a woke mallet.
“I have no problem – good luck to the same-sex couples, really good luck to Ellie, and good luck to the BBC if that’s what they want to do.
“But there’s an old phrase, go woke and go broke,” he concluded.
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