Cach Mercer’s Strictly Waltz Exposes the Show’s Tension Between Technique and Spectacle
Mercer scored 26 for a waltz that thrilled some and frustrated others, sharpening the debate over whether Strictly rewards precision or personality.
Cach Mercer’s place near the foot of the leaderboard, despite a waltz that many viewers found compelling, captures a tension Strictly Come Dancing has yet to resolve: how much should a routine be judged on formal technique when a performer brings a style the ballroom doesn’t often accommodate?
The Love Island winner, 25, taught himself street dance while growing up in east London. That background gives him a distinctive ease and musicality. He moves with unusual lightness, and his rhythm makes him one of the most absorbing performers in this series. The difficulty is that those gifts don’t always translate into the traditional shapes and footwork the judges expect.
A waltz caught between two standards
His quickstep in the first live show drew criticism because it included freestyle elements. The latest split came over his waltz to “That Ain’t You” by Mulaa Jones. Anton Du Beke praised the way Mercer brought old and new together, calling the combination “just gorgeous.” Craig Revel Horwood saw a routine that missed basic requirements. He pointed to poor posture, a weak frame, Mercer leaning over Maddie Ingoldsby and a lack of heel leads.
The disagreement wasn’t about whether Mercer had presence. It was about what the performance needed to deliver. Du Beke responded to the blend of styles; Revel Horwood assessed whether the dance met the form’s technical demands. Mercer received 26 points and went into the results show at the bottom of the leaderboard, despite being one of the night’s most striking dancers.
That gap between impact and marks is the story. If the scoring rewards the prescribed details above all else, a performer who reshapes a routine around his strengths can be punished even when the result connects. If the show prizes spectacle alone, the distinct character of each dance risks fading. The debate around Mercer sits right in the middle.
Ingoldsby’s credentials and the criticism
Ingoldsby has taken much of the online backlash directed at the partnership. As a professional making her debut series, she has been accused by viewers of letting Mercer down and lacking the experience to choreograph for him. Those claims overlook a formidable competitive record: she is a UK National Ballroom champion and an eight-time Amateur 10-Dance World champion.
My read is that adapting choreography to a partner’s existing ability isn’t the same as abandoning technique. Ingoldsby is working Mercer’s street-dance instincts into ballroom, trying to make the familiar forms fit a performer with a rare movement vocabulary. The challenge is to keep the character that makes him compelling while building the posture, frame and footwork the judges want to see.
There’s room to argue about whether the balance is right. But dismissing the partnership as inexperienced ignores Ingoldsby’s record and the specific task she faces. Mercer isn’t a blank slate learning to move; he already has a powerful style that needs to be channelled into different forms.
What the show rewards
Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita offered a useful contrast just before Mercer’s routine. After finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard in Halloween Week, they returned with a full-throttle Paso Doble. The judges rewarded the performance, and Stoecker described the balance she wants: technique matters, she said, but so does making people feel something.
That point applies to Mercer. His technique needs work, and the judges have a clear role in explaining where he can improve. But the precision of a heel lead and the energy of a performance are both part of what viewers see. Treating the first as the only meaningful measure can flatten the second.
Strictly is a Saturday-night entertainment show built around performers learning under pressure. Its audience doesn’t need to ignore technique to enjoy a routine that takes a risk. The US series Dancing With The Stars often gives more weight to spectacle and the overall effect than to exact footwork. Strictly could make a little more space for that approach without giving up its expert critiques.
The season’s unpredictable leaderboard makes the stakes sharper. Mercer’s 26 points put him in a precarious position ahead of the results show, and there’s a real chance the focus on his technical flaws could send him home. That would remove one of the cast’s most distinctive performers just as his strengths are forcing the show to confront what it values.
Mercer still has work to do on the formal details, and that shouldn’t be waved away. Yet the intensity of the criticism risks making his difference sound like a defect. His street-dance background is part of what he brings to the floor; using it to create something fresh is a reason to keep watching, not a reason to mark the performance down by default.
Strictly has room for both discipline and surprise. The next result will show whether Mercer gets another chance to close the technical gap—and whether the series is willing to let his individual style help shape what a dance can look like.
