A Strictly Come Dancing duo is facing yet another setback just before their fifth live dance routine. Recently, EastEnders’ beloved Balvinder Sopal and her dance partner Julian Caillon landed in the nerve-wracking dance-off with Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Bychkova. This was the second consecutive week they found themselves in the bottom, having previously competed against Ross King and Jowita Przystal.

Now, ex-professional dancer James Jordan has shared his thoughts on the couple’s chances in the upcoming show, hinting at a challenging weekend ahead. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk in collaboration with Freebets.com, where he serves as an entertainment betting expert, Jordan pointed out why the pair might not be capturing the public’s affection.

Jordan cautioned: “I think Balvinder [Sopal] is in a risky spot this week, despite there being contestants who are worse – though not many. The competition is as much about popularity and the overall contribution to the show, including the video segments, as it is about dancing skills.”

He elaborated: “Although she isn’t the strongest dancer, I believe she deserves to be saved. However, it appears the audience is favoring others more in the public vote. Unfortunately, that’s just how it works.”

In addition, the father-of-one noted that the actress isn’t quite winning over the judges, emphasizing that popularity plays a significant role in the BBC reality series. Jordan remarked: “Strictly isn’t your typical competition, and that’s what makes it so entertaining. People need to keep that in mind.”

“If it was a proper competition, we could tell you who’s going to be in first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place. But it’s the fact that the underdog gets more public support than the person that’s had professional training.”

He did concede that those with previous dancing experience are likely to go much further in the competition based solely on the judges’ scores. James revealed: “The people who’ve had professional training are going to get a lot further in the competition because even if they end up in the bottom two, they’re going to be saved by the judges.

“And it’s much harder to drop to the bottom two if you’re in a high position on the leaderboard. So, for people like Lewis Cope, Amber Davies, and George Clark, they’re some of the people who have had dance training, they will go far.”

The TV presenter went on to back West End star Amber Davies, insisting that one star has had much more dance training than her, which has gone under the radar. James revealed: “I know a lot of people are particularly giving Amber a hard time, but we’ve got to remember, Lewis has probably had more training than her.

“So, is he getting the same hard time that she is? No, because women are jealous of other women. That’s been the same in the history of the show that I’ve been involved in. For some reason, they seem to pick on the women over the men.”

Speaking about how the couple tackles being in the bottom two, professional Julian shared their pre-dance routine that helps them move on from the disappointment of the dance-off.

He told RadioTimes.com: “We just have a little bit of a debrief. But we create a safe space, and we just say whatever we feel needs to be said.”

Balvinder added: “Absolutely that. Let’s just get it all out, come in and have a real honest conversation with your dance partner, and just get everything off your chest, and then go, ‘Right, that’s it. We’ll put that to one side and now we just jump and dance’.”