From a former contestant (and Angela Rippon fan) an impassioned plea to level the dance floor… Sorry Layton, but they should ban pros from Strictly

Last Sunday, while watching television, I had such a violent outburst of anger that I almost fell off my couch.

It came out of the blue. Sundays are normally my favorite evening to watch television, a welcome relief from the terrible news everywhere else.

The BBC offers us an evening of antiques and Attenborough, and to top it all off, the Strictly Results Show, a perfect, soothing combination to send us to bed happy.

Not last Sunday.

If you don’t share my anger, I might as well take an interest. I’m a strict addict and myself lasted three dangerous weeks as a contestant on series two, closely associated with Anton Du Beke. That was in 2004. Since then, I’ve watched every episode for almost twenty years.

I am also a friend of Angela Rippon and admire her with all my heart, both on and off screen. She is smart, calm and capable. And very nice.

So for me, and for millions like me, Sunday’s results were, as Craig would say, “a disaaahster, baby.”

Angela Rippon CBE, aged 79, was declared bottom of the leaderboard and forced to battle for survival in the dreaded dance-off.

It was week seven and Angie had danced a waltz. The judges had scored her enough points to place her in the middle of the leaderboard. Then it was up to us viewers to add up our votes to determine the final total.

What on earth went wrong?

Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Channel 4’s charming newsreader, a much less experienced dancer than Angie, received enough votes to sail through to next week. I had assumed she would too.

And maybe that was the problem. Too many of us thought she was safe and didn’t bother to vote. I admit I tipped her to win the champion’s glitterball.

I know I’m not alone. Angie is the contestant many viewers are waiting for. She fills us with awe. She celebrated her 79th birthday during the series, so with every high kick and graceful backbend she breaks the stereotype that us oldies are weak and pathetic. She is an inspiration to everyone over 65.

Her interviews are charming and modest, she looks glorious, dances like a dream and the judges are clearly impressed. So how did she end up being a hair’s breadth away from her?

No, the waltz was not her best dance. With her years of ballet lessons and her fantastic rhythm and musicality, she clearly enjoys the noisy ones more – the Argentine tango or Charleston.

But for the waltz, her partner Kai had decided, I think wrongly, to skip her usual fireworks, like the high kick in the first show that grazed her ear. And her dress was a bit boring, while all the others were spectacular.

When the crucial dance-off verdict came, the judges unanimously chose to save her and in my opinion, they saved the show. Otherwise I might have had to boycott it.

But there is another flaw in the current series, and I say this reluctantly because I love the show. It’s not a flat dance floor.

Actually, that has never been the case.

In my series, Quentin Willson, the motoring correspondent, who had clearly never danced a step in his life, and Jill Halfpenny, the actress who ultimately won the series, trained in the somewhat dingy studios where Anton and I toiled.

When I first saw Jill, I could tell by the way she put on her leg warmers that she had done it before. And when she emerged from her first rehearsal, her partner Darren Bennett said they had been practicing their jive kicks.

Back then, I wouldn’t have recognized a jive kick if it had hit me on the chin. It was their brilliant jive that earned her Strictly’s first perfect score, 40 points.

I once asked Jill about her dancing talents and she explained that in her teenage years at drama school she had to choose between focusing on acting or dancing.

She told me that although she loved dancing, the fact that she was short and round meant that at every audition the tall, leggy people would get the job. That’s why she chose acting.

Of course, many of the actors in the current series, like Jill, learned to dance at theater school. I’m not complaining about that, or that Angie studied ballet for years. I just envy them for their skills and talent.

However, I think it’s time for Strictly to introduce a rule that anyone under the age of 50 who has actually made a living dancing – in other words they are already professional dancers – should be disqualified.

Which of course brings me to Layton Williams. At 29 years old, he is an excellent dancer and an engaging personality.

But from week one it was clear that he is a professional dancer, and although ballroom and Latin are new to him, he probably has more experience dancing in front of an audience than any other professional on the show.

He began his theatrical career after studying jazz, tap and ballet, dancing the lead role in Billy Elliot at the age of 12. He danced in the company of Matthew Bourne in the ballet The Car Man. And in the latest Strictly, his jive included a dazzling ‘skywheel’, which most professional dancers wouldn’t even attempt.

His partnership with Nikita Kuzmin is brilliant and he shines in every routine. But Layton is missing one thing: a journey.

Now I know the J-word has become a cliché, but it is at the heart of Strictly. Take past champions like Bill Bailey and Hamza Yassin. Could either of them have predicted how far they could get?

The journey from stand-up comedian and nature photographer to lifting the winner’s trophy initially seemed like a completely impossible dream. It was unforgettable to see them make it happen.

How much previous dance experience did they have? Bill admitted in his autobiography that he had taken ballroom dancing lessons as a teenager. Bill, so did I, and I stayed on the show for three weeks. What he had, and what I never had, was an amazing talent for dancing.

And Hamza said he had taken part in an amateur dance show as a student. Me, too. Could I ever have achieved the salsa you dazzled us with? Don’t bother asking. The thing is, neither of them have ever been professional dancers; they would never have even thought about it.

Why am I suggesting that the disqualification for professionals should have an age limit of 50 years? Because of Debbie McGee.

Before she was regularly sawn in half by her late husband Paul Daniels, she was a professional ballet dancer and had her own ballet company.

But when she joined Strictly she was 59. Thirty years older than Layton. Twenty years younger than Angie. Without her it would have been a much more boring program.

Will Strictly take my advice? Certainly not. They have created one of the most successful programs in the world.

They have put together the most amazing team of choreographers, dancers, designers, make-up artists, costume artists, directors, crew and presenters whose talents light up the screen. Why would they accept criticism at all?

But for many viewers, using professionals as participants takes some of the sparkle off the glitterball. Layton was destined to be at the top of the leaderboard from the moment he stepped foot in the studio.

But in no way can he engage us as much as Annabel Croft – so moving in the last show, I think everyone in the studio and on the couch must have had tears in their eyes – whose journey from tennis star to emotional, expressive, graceful dancer is inspiring.

So, Layton, this is not meant as a criticism of your talent. It’s just a plea for a flatter dance floor in the future. And for my fellow viewers, if you want to see Angie in the finale – flourish, vote for her!