The Strictly Come Dancing contestants graced the stage for the semi-finals following the unexpected departure of EastEnders star Nigel Harman who withdrew from the competition last week.
Harman’s exit from the show last week meant that no couples were voted off and the judges’ scores were carried over to this week’s semi-final.
Musical theatre star Layton Williams and his partner Nikita Kuzmin, who achieved the first perfect mark of the series last week, danced Charleston to “Fit as a Fiddle” by Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.
Williams gained a perfect score again with his Charleston: winning an extrenely rare standing ovation from Craig Revel Horwood who said the dance was the “best” Charleston he had seen in 20 years.
Meanwhile, Williams’ second dance, a Rumba to Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up”, didn’t get quite as a favourable reaction from the judges, but still a respectable score.
On the other side of the table was former tennis pro Annabel Croft whose Salsa to “You’ll Be Mine (Party Time)” by Gloria Estefan went slightly wrong after she accidentally skidded across the dancefloor during spin that involved floorwork. However, Croft’s delicate Viennese Waltz to “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” by Slow Moving Millie went down more successfully with the judges.
Annabel Croft accidentally skids across the floor during Salsa— (BBC)
EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier’s Quickstep to “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin saw him hailed the “King of Ballroom” by head judge Shirley Ballas and his dark and dramatic Paso Doble to “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid also received high praise from the judges.
Meanwhile, ex-Coronation Street star Ellie Leach danced the Cha-Cha to “Mambo Italiano” by Rosemary Clooney and was praised for showing a “different” side to her character in her sensual Couple’s Choice dance to a medley of songs by the pop star Dua Lipa.
Layton Williams reacts to achieving perfect score for second week running— (BBC)
Find the leaderboard, which includes last week’s score due to Harman’s departure, plus the remaining celebrities’ scores for their first and second dances, below:
Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin: 40 + 36 + 40 = 116
Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola: 36 + 37 + 38 + 111
Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell: 34 + 38 + 35 = 107
Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe: 33 + 32 + 33 = 98
So that places Williams at the top of this week’s leaderboard (again), and leaves Brazier and Croft in danger of the dance-off on Sunday night (10 December), as the judge’s scores are combined with the public vote.
However, all that could change should either of them cruise through to the final and not get pulled into the dreaded dance-off.
The Strictly Come Dancing results show airs on Sunday night (10 December) at 7.25pm, with the final happening on Saturday 16 December on BBC One.
