Strictly fans spot tension between pro and her partner and insist ‘he doesn’t want to be there’
STRICTLY Come Dancing fans said they felt ‘sorry’ for one of the professional dancers after last night’s performance.
Viewers’ hearts went out to Karen Hauer after they claimed that her celebrity partner Paul Merson “didn’t want to be there”.
Karen and ex-football star Paul took to the dance floor with the first salsa of the series but they only scored 15 points overall.
With the chemistry between couples being just as important as the moves, viewers quickly noticed that something wasn’t quite right between Paul and Karen.
“#Strictly somebody save Karen I feel so sorry for Karen,” one fan wrote.
“Paul Merson clearly doesn’t want to be there,” echoed a second.
The Arsenal ace raised eyebrows after the first show, where he and Karen performed an American Smooth.
Dressed in a Strictly FC strip, the pair danced to 90s football anthem Vindaloo.
Despite it being their big debut, some fans claimed that Paul looked “unhappy”.
“Paul really doesn’t want to be there!” argued one viewer.
Another agreed, saying: “I just said the same thing to my OH – are they blackmailing him to be here or something!”
Paul also complained about his footballer-themed costume before setting foot on the dancefloor.
He moaned to Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman: “We look like we work on a boat.
“That’s what we look like. On a cruise ship…on a cruise ship. Look! Seriously!”
Making light of his comments, Claudia replied: “We are ready to go on that cruise with you.
“Are you ready? How are you feeling about this dance?”
He nonchalantly replied: “Oh yeah, alright. Yeah.”
The pair received a low score of 17 which placed them joint second from the bottom of the leaderboard.
Paul was later shown walking down the street in jeans and a T-shirt, mimicking the music video for Fat Les’s 1998 song Vindaloo.
Just like in the music vid, footballs were thrown around behind him.
Paul was then tossed a Strictly Come Dancing glitter ball, which he quickly threw off camera.
After watching the footage, another viewer joked: “Paul throwing away the disco ball is a meme of how he feels being on the show.”