Seann Walsh provides Strictly comic relief with out-of-time jive

Seann Walsh laughed off his poor scores after he suffered a jive mishap on Strictly Come Dancing.

The comedian, who was cheered on by friend Romesh Ranganathan, performed an energetic routine to I’m Still Standing by Elton John, with partner Katya Jones, but failed to keep to the beat of the song.

During rehearsals he was visited by actress Jill Halfpenny, who scored a perfect 40 for a jive to the same song in the second series of the show.

However, Walsh’s routine, which was set in a comedy club and saw him dance with his microphone stand, failed to come close to Halfpenny’s score.

Judge Bruno Tonioli told him: “That was certainly not Jill Halfpenny, you did all the right steps at the wrong time.”

Craig Revel Horwood said: “It all went horribly wrong. I felt so sorry for you because I could see how much work you had put in but it just didn’t come tonight.”

Head judge Shirley Ballas, who had criticised Walsh’s flowing locks last week, simply said with a shrug: “I liked your hair.”

He was awarded just two points by Revel Horwood, while Darcey Bussell and Ballas gave him four.

Tonioli scored him five, saying it was “for comic relief”, prompting Walsh to cheer loudly.