KEY POINTS:
Michael Laws has a broken toe and Paul Holmes is impaired in one eye, but Dancing with the Stars judge Craig Revel-Horwood doesn't think any of the performers are fishing for sympathy votes - he blames viewers for "less able" talent staying on.
Gaining a reputation for his stinging criticisms of the show's celebrity dancers, Revel-Horwood said no-one would plan to "break my toe today so I can get through next week's dance competition".
"It's the public that vote for the tears; it's the public who vote for the injuries. They are to blame," he said.
Asked whether Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws was the worst dancer he had seen, he replied: "It's all relative. I think he has just been given dances that don't really suit him. Some people are good at rumba, but he isn't. And the quickstep was the second dance, and that is so difficult for someone, particularly with a broken toe.
"He's not doing brilliantly but he is showing some improvement."
Despite some of the obvious dancefloor failings, Revel-Horwood took his hat off to all the performers.
"If they wanted to be professional dancers I'd probably say 'you'd better think twice, mate' to most of them, but they don't have to prove themselves in any way, shape or form.
"They're already celebrities and good at something, so I think it's brilliant that they would take up the challenge to do something they can't do."
He said the attraction of the TV One show was probably about "watching people trying to keep their heads above water".
"I think the audience at home see themselves in people like Paul and Michael - they see them and think 'oh my God, that's like me, but I'm glad it's him up there and not me'."
The 42-year-old felt people were happy someone was up there "saying it like it is".
"I have had nothing but positive reactions from people on the street, but there was one girl who said 'I think your criticisms are terrible and you should treat people with a bit more respect'. Of course, she gave me her business card at the end of it and told me to call her."
Craig Revel-Horwood's dance floor judgments
* On Michael Laws, week 1:
"It was completely flat-footed all the way through, pigeon-toed in most places, you are raising your shoulders, your mouth was gaping open, catching blowflies. It was appalling."
* To Paul Holmes, week 2:
"You were forcing your hands into submission. Your hands looked like egg slides through the whole thing."
* On April Ieremia's exit:
"I don't think it's of any surprise at all."
