Susanna Reid
Criticism of Natalie Gumede hasn't gone down well with her fellow 'Strictly Come Dancing' contestant Susanna Reid.
The BBC 'Breakfast' co-host has leapt to the defence of the former 'Coronation Street' actress after she was branded "too good" for the ballroom dancing competition due to her previous dancing experience, but Susanna insists that contestants who vary in their skills are important to the show's formula.
She said: "She dances so well that she has been unfairly criticised for being too good to be part of the show.
"A show, remember, that is about dancing as well as you can.
"Conversely - and perversely - there was criticism of Dave Myers, too, but for not being good enough to be in the show.
"A show, remember, that is about working as hard as you can to dance as well as you are able.
"But this range of abilities is key to the entertainment value of the biggest programme on British television."
The 42-year-old star admits the show would struggle if it decided to ban any celebrities who had previous dance experience and believes such a rule would be almost impossible to implicate anyway.
She added to Radio Times magazine: "A show that excluded anyone with previous dance experience would find it hard to decide where to set the bar.
"Is Mark Benton disqualified because he has danced in musicals? Is Abbey [Clancy] not allowed because she was in a girl band? Am I excluded because I shuffled around at the back of a ballet class as a child?"
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