The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing show has faced anger from viewers over sexually suggestive dance moves aired during Saturday’s pre-watershed programme.
Ex-footballer Robbie Savage was at the centre of complaints with viewers unhappy with him thrusting his hips and provocatively grabbing his crotch.
He finished his dance by jumping on the judges’ table and grabbing himself in front of Craig Revel Horwood.
Unnecessary
The BBC said it received 325 complaints about the routine. Mr Savage said he was simply emulating a dance move made famous by Michael Jackson.
But fans hit out at the performance with one saying: “We thought that the use of ‘hip thrusts’ by Robbie Savage during his performance tonight was particularly vulgar, deplorable and completely unnecessary.
“They were particularly suggestive especially to the younger audience and the action in front of Craig was very much out of order.
“It is not necessary for him to hold his crotch in that way to give a good performance. We hope that this will not be repeated in future.”
Grandchildren
Another viewer remarked the thrusts were “quite unnecessary” and hoped they would not be repeated.
The viewer added: “Our grandchildren were here this evening and they saw that ‘action’ and wanted to know what he was doing.”
Robbie Savage responded by asking why viewers “thought it was inappropriate to do a Michael Jackson move at 7pm on a sat night to one of his songs”.
He continued, writing on the online social networking site Twitter: “Seriously what is the world coming to when on an entertainment show people complain about a famous MJ move which my 5 year old loves doing !”
No offence
The BBC said: “Robbie danced a Paso Doble to Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ on Saturday’s show and the choreography emulated some of Michael’s most famous dance moves.
“Strictly is a live entertainment show and with it being the Halloween Special, Robbie wanted to pull out all the stops. We would like to assure viewers no offence was intended.”