Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse came under fire after remarks she made to pregnant pro Dianne Buswell and her celebrity partner Stefan Dennis

A body language expert believes Motsi Mabuse’s comment left Dianne Buswell frustrated (Image: BBC)

Motsi Mabuse telling Dianne Buswell and Stefan Dennis to rehearse more was the “final straw”, claims a body language expert. The Strictly Come Dancing judge sparked fury after suggesting that the pregnant professional and her celebrity partner needed to increase their practice time following their performance in Saturday night’s show. Dianne and Stefan, 66, who is the oldest contestant to be competing in this year’s series, performed a Cha Cha to Give It Up by KC and The Sunshine Band, earning a mere 17 points from the judging panel.

While Motsi praised the duo’s partnership, she pointed out several small mistakes during the routine. When the auditorium erupted with boos, the 44-year-old declared: “There were guys, sorry, let’s just be honest. Just let’s try next time to rehearse and stick to the routine.” The Australian professional, who is expecting her first child with Joe Sugg, quickly challenged Motsi’s remarks as she fired back: “I don’t know how much more we can rehearse, Motsi!”

Motsi claimed the couple needed to rehearse more (Image: PA)

But Motsi only persisted: “Find a way, I don’t know, we have to get one performance without those tiny tiny creepers in there.”

Analysing Dianne’s body language throughout the interaction, Judi James observed that Motsi’s comment appeared to frustrate the 36-year-old, who showed a forced smile and a tired posture.

Speaking exclusively to Paddy Power Games, the body language expert said: “Motsi’s comment ‘Try to rehearse’ looked like the last straw for Dianne, who performed an overkill smile that was more an angry baring of the teeth than an expression of pleasure, and collapsed from the waist in a gesture of exhaustion.

“When she straightened, she had one hand balled into a fist and placed on her hip in a gesture that can look aggressive or confrontational and there was a tongue-poke gesture to suggest she rejected the idea of not rehearsing. Dianne is a grafter and the comment appeared wounding.

Dianne and Stefan earned 17 points for their performance (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

“It was Dianne’s body language during the results that suggested she was the one most expecting to be voted out this week. Her eye gaze was aimed in a reflective direction, and her closed lip smile was a ‘bravado’ smile.”

Motsi’s comment also sparked fury among viewers, who took to social media to express their frustrations.

One fumed: “Such a horrible comment to make. That will make people think they haven’t put the time in.”

A second weighed in: “I thought Strictly capped the amount of hours they could rehearse to 8 hours a day? So how can the judges be giving out comments like ‘you need to rehearse more’ when they’ve been doing their 8 hours a day… every day. They aren’t allowed.”

Another added: “I feel like telling the eldest contestant with the pregnant pro to rehearse more when they have been doing long days, and it’s clear it was because of nerves and not lack of rehearsal is an extremely unfair thing to say.”

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