An unfortunate choice of words from
Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas delivered one of the stand-out moments from this year’s semi-final.
In what was an otherwise quite emotional evening, Shirley had everyone in the studio (including her fellow panellists) howling, when during a critique of Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse’s Quickstep performance, she complimented the former Emmerdale star on his “woodpecker”.
Even though Kelvin commented he “doesn’t know what a woodpecker is”, those in the audience drew their own conclusions, with fellow judges Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood struggling to keep a straight face.And while Shirley swiftly clarified she was talking about a dance move, a quick glance at social media proved the judges weren’t the only ones with their minds in the gutter…Love a bit of @bbcstrictly Innuendo Bingo. Tonight, first up, Shirley compliments @kelvin_fletcher on his woodpecker.#innuendobingo#StrictlyComeDancing2019#StrictlyComeDancingpic.twitter.com/URVBO7doBU— Lisa Bourne (@LMBBNamings) December 7, 2019Shirley stop talking about Kelvin’s Woodpecker!! 😂😂😂#BBCStrictly— Brendan (@Brendan_1977) December 7, 2019“Kelvin, your woodpecker was amazing” err, ok Shirley 😂 #scd#SCD2019#innuendo— Fiona Lamb (@missfionalamb) December 7, 2019Shirley taking about @kelvin_fletcher woodpecker 🤣😜 haha! #StrictlyComeDancing— DAVID (@_dab90) December 7, 2019Catching up on tonight's #Strictly ... Kelvin and his amazing woodpecker 😂😂😂 ⭐⭐⭐ pic.twitter.com/55dM2ds1L7— matthew zee-miller (@MattZeeMiller) December 7, 2019Shirley somewhat taken aback by Kelvin's Woodpecker. #Strictly#filth— Grange Hill's flying sausage. (@lushattic) December 7, 2019All I can think about now is Kelvin’s woodpecker #Strictly— kiramadeira 🤔 (@kiramadeira) December 7, 2019@bbcstrictly@ShirleyBallas@kelvin_fletcher@OtiMabuse@1madwoman1962 Shirley loved Kelvins woodpecker too funny 😂 💖 #Strictly— Sally Young (@11syoung) December 7, 2019I am very pleased that Kelvin's woodpecker passed muster, Shirley. #strictly— gibbzer (@gibbzer) December 7, 2019Shirley admiring Kelvins Woodpecker #strictlypic.twitter.com/uO7M8w9HiB— Teddy Pigtails (@TeddyPigtails) December 7, 2019The following morning, Kelvin also responded to the comment on
Twitter, joking: “Such a relief my woodpecker was noticed. Well, it was colder than normal in that studio!”Such a relief my woodpecker was noticed.Well, it was colder than normal in that studio! 😂😜Team #Floti 💃🕺 ❤️ Shirley 😍#Strictly#StrictlyComeDancing#Strictly2019pic.twitter.com/273NAPuKpw— Kelvin Fletcher (@kelvin_fletcher) December 8, 2019All jokes aside, Saturday was a big night for Kelvin, after he and Oti topped the leaderboard with their first perfect score of the series.
The semi-final marked the first time that the remaining couples had been tasked with performing two brand new dances, with Kelvin winning praise for both his Quickstep and the Paso Doble later in the night, earning 77 of a possible 80 points from the judges.
Close behind them was Karim Zeroual on 74, while Emma Barton and Chris Ramsey racked up 67 and 54, respectively.
In Sunday night’s results show, the last dance-off of the series will take place, after which the three celebrities in the final will be revealed.
Find out who makes it through at 7.20pm on
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