Strictly's Shirley Ballas: Joe McFadden’s paso doble deserved 11 points

Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas has said Joe McFadden's show-stopping paso doble deserved 11 points on Saturday night.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas would have scored Joe McFadden an 11 last Saturday if the rules allowed it.

The head judge labelled the Holby City actor’s paso doble “outstanding” during an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

She said: “Joe was off the chart this week … I haven’t seen a paso doble like that for many years.

“From a Latin American background watching the control that this man had in his paso doble, his shapes, just even the way he placed his fingers, even his energy in his body, those double turns that he did, landing them, not making a mistake.

“I’d have given him an 11 if there was an 11, that’s how good he was,” she added.

McFadden and his partner Katya Jones picked up a score of 26, putting them second in the leaderboard behind Debbie McGee and Giovanni Pernice.

Ballas also addressed fellow judge Bruno Tonioli’s omission from last week’s show after work commitments meant he was in the US.

She said: “He’s flamboyant, he’s lovely, we missed him on the show this week.”

On Tuesday, Tonioli confirmed he would be back in the UK for this weekend’s show – the Halloween special.

He said in a video posted on Twitter: “Don’t you worry I’ll be back on Saturday with a Halloween spectacular. You are not going to get rid of me that easily.”