Olympic champion Adam Peaty was painted blue for week three of the British show Strictly Come Dancing. This week’s theme was movies so he performed a rumba to Leona Lewis‘ “I See You” from Avatar.
The judges gave Peaty and his dance partner Katya Jones 20 points, calling the dance “awkward.” While this was one point higher than his score from last week, it was the lowest score of the night.
It is important to note that Peaty reportedly suffered an ankle injury during rehearsal this week, but there was no mention of it during or after the performance.
Now the judges’ scores will be added to results from the public vote and the bottom two teams after that will compete in a dance-off Sunday night.
Peaty in danger of elimination could be big news for international swimming league team London Roar who re-drafted him this season. ISL season 3 playoffs begin November 11th and even though Peaty told the Independent he has not been swimming, a rested breaststroke World Record holder would undoubtedly be an advantage for the Roar.
London Roar made it through the ISL regular season well, ranking themselves 4th out of 8 teams going into the playoffs.
“In the event of a tie, the viewers’ votes will take precedence over the judges’ scoring,” Strictly’s rules say. This may be life-saving for Peaty as multiple comments on BBC Strictly’s social media believe he and Jones were undermarked.
Peaty and Jones are not alone at the bottom this week – the second-lowest score of the night came from Dan Walker whose foxtrot earned 21 points from the judges.
Update: Peaty and Jones were kept safe by the public vote and will continue on to week four.
Costume designers forewent the tails, but not much else as you can see in this backstage video of Peaty in full-blue makeup. Makeup artist Olivia Davey hand-painted the stripes on his body.
Despite his low score this week, Peaty fans went so far as to briefly change his middle name on Wikipedia to “Rumba.”
I’ve been informed this morning that someone has given me a new middle name on Wikipedia. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do it justice 🤣🤦🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/ahw6GOfG0s
— Adam Peaty OBE (@adam_peaty) October 10, 2021
Ah yes, big AP has joined the furry fandom I see…
This headline deserves a pulitzer
But doesn’t he get a few bonus points for his lead at the halfway mark? I thought it was cruel that they flashed a bunch of red lights above him when it was clear he was going to lose. Anyone know how Sydney Pickrem did in that round?
Everyone should calm down about him coming back to ISL, regardless of Strictly – on this week’s London Roar podcast Steve Tigg told us they are not expecting him back. https://youtu.be/X1Y9ALg-M9M
(But then I suppose Energy weren’t expecting Sarah Sjostrom back either…)
He will be back
He’s still in Strictly for another week!
Remember he was a fan vote, roar fans will be dissapointed if he privilegied his dancing hobby over swimming
I’m a roar fan and as much as I want him back on the team most swimmers like to have a decent break after the olympics and if he wants to do that I support it. He may be a fan vote but that doesn’t mean the fans should expect him to do what they want
I’m pretty sure that Peaty would prioritise his mental health and long-term relationship with swimming over (fans of) a meme competition that only Shymanovich cares about.
They have to suck it up . Why ought people be stuck in one lane .?
Ps he looks good in blue & he is sure to be paid .
But the very fact the team didn’t protect him and he went to a fan vote shows they weren’t expecting him to swim (although it would have been interesting if the fans hadn’t voted for him and e.g. DC had drafted him…)
Any news on Prigoda? If Peaty doesn’t swim at ISL this year, he will be the hope for London Roar.
listen to the podcast 😉
(In summary, hopefully…)
Ya blue it
Me : smiling because he could be back in ISL
Shymanovich: crying
This is still dope even if he loses. Helps swimming become more mainstream.
Tactical bombing so he can get back to the ISL. I see you Peaty.