Cole, who danced on the show from 2004 to 2018, made his thoughts clear on the pundit and footballer, who has already seen himself wind up in the bottom two.
Shaun Wright-Phillips is one of the contestants in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing
PA Media
The Arsenal legend has appeared in a pre-recorded VT visiting his son and his partner Alexis Warr during rehearsals last week. Watching on from the sidelines, the 62-year-old said he thought his son's moves looked “really good”.
Cole said: “They've already used his dad in the VT. They can't do that every week. Ian's very, very popular, probably one of the most popular TV pundits there is. They've already used that early doors.
“They could have probably used that next week or the week after to try to keep him in but I'd imagine his days are numbered on the show.”
Responding to Cole’s comments, the 44-year-old pundit told Oddschecker: “Firstly, dad hasn't been to a show yet because he's been busy. He came to a training session, which me and him spoke about over a lunch weekend, and he wanted to pop in, so I said, 'Why not?'
“I've never used dad for any public vote. He came because he just wanted to see me at work, and I wanted him there because I know the support he gives... Dad being there has nothing to do with trying to pull in votes, just for the record.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cole claimed that Wright-Phillips started the competition with lots of “gusto” but that “he hasn't been able to match that with what he's delivered”.
Ian Wright paid a visit to his son during rehearsals last week
ITV
“Is he going to be the best dancer on the show? No. Has he got the personality and charisma to carry him a couple of weeks? Yes. Has he got the personality and charisma to carry him all the way through to the end? Probably not," Cole added.
Last week, Wright-Phillips and Warr received their highest score of the competition so far with a score of 28 as he transformed into James Brown for Icons Week.
“We picked this dance because we wanted to bring joy and excitement not just to the audience here but the ones watching on TV as well and that’s exactly what the dance is about,’ an overjoyed Wright-Phillips said following positive comments for the judges.
It is not the first time this season that Cole has made some divisive comments about members of the cast.
Brendan Cole said that Shaun Wright-Phillips brought out his father too early
Getty
After Dowden became the first pro to leave the competition, Cole slammed the Welsh dancer as being “not up for the challenge”.
“I don’t think Amy’s been doing a very good job for the last few years and she’s been out first for the last few years. One can do the maths on that.”
Cole claimed that he can see Dowden “counting in” her partners, a sign to him that the “job has not been done”.
Dowden fired back in a recent interview with The Mirror where she spoke about the importance of being kind.
Cole also blasted the line-up of celebrities, which he called “unrecognisable”, though also conceded that he is a “bitter old pro”.