Former Strictly pro Ian Waite says Bruno Tonioli is ‘entertainment value but nothing else’

Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Ian Waite has shared some honest thoughts on the show’s judges and professionals.

Ian was a dancer on the BBC One series between 2004 and 2010 and now regularly appears on spin-off show It Takes Two.

Appearing on FUBAR Radio, Ian revealed his “honest truth” when quizzed about the show.

He first spoke to Stephen Leng and co-host TOWIE’s Bobby Norris on Access All Areas about judge Bruno Tonioli’s unlikely appearance in the upcoming series due to filming commitments in America.

When asked whether the judge would be missed from the upcoming series, Ian laughed after an awkward silence, answering: “Do you want the honest truth? I love Bruno for the entertainment value, but nothing else.”

He added: “He doesn’t really say anything technical. He’s not really the technician of the panel. It’s like, how many arms can I flail around and how expressive can I be?”

Ian wasn’t shy in taking a swipe at the professional dancers too: “There are some pros who don’t like you saying anything against them. But they can stuff it!”

When nudged that he could name names, Ian responded: “Most of them are gone now!”

Ian also spoke about rumours that this year could see the first same sex couples in Strictly history.

He said: “I think it’s a brilliant idea. Why not! In this day and age we should mix it up a lot more and it’ll make it much more acceptable for people to see it.

“In the beginning it’s weird because you’re so used to seeing the form of a man and a woman dancing together. It’s just different because we’re not used to it, but actually, once you get used to it, then you just start judging it for what it is and whether it’s a good dance or not.”

He added: “It can be more creative because you can swap roles during the actual dance. You’re not restricted to just the female steps or the man steps because they are different.

“So you could swap half way through or every different step you could change roles, so then you could make a really interesting dance.”