The Strictly Come Dancing contestants made their annual trip to Blackpool to perform in the seaside town’s iconic Tower Ballroom, the spiritual home of British ballroom dancing.
The remaining seven couples took to the floor on Saturday (18 November) evening, following a spectacular opening number which featured special cameos from the judges (and a dazzling outfit change from Johannes Radebe, who stole the show in a green fringed jumpsuit). You can catch up on all the biggest talking points from Strictly week nine here.
Reigning over the top of the leaderboard were Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, whose Couple’s Choice routine prompted Craig Revel Horwood to label the Everybody’s Talking About Jamie star as one of the best dancers he’s seen throughout his time on the Strictly panel, and Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola, who wowed the crowd with a high tempo Charleston to “Love Machine” by Girls Aloud.
But despite plenty of speculation that Williams or Leach might earn a perfect score of 40 this week, neither quite managed it, receiving 39 points (both of them are yet to get a 10 from Revel Horwood).
They were closely followed by Angela Scanlon and her partner Carlos Gu, who left the floor with 38 points (and, you guessed it, Revel Horwood was the only judge not to give them full marks).
Sitting towards the middle of the leaderboard were Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell, who jived to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham, and Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe, whose emotional American Smooth left Shirley Ballas choked up with emotion.
Layton Williams was on high-kicking form— (BBC/Guy Levy)
Nigel Harman and Katya Jones earned 31 points for their quickstep, while Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington ended up in last place with 28.
As ever, though, it’s not all about the judges’ scores, as viewers have the chance to vote for their favourite couple to keep them in the competition. Fans will find out which pairs have made it through to week 10 during the results show on Sunday (19 November) night.
You can find Strictly Come Dancing’s week nine leaderboard below:
Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola = 9 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39
Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin = 9 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39
Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu = 8 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 38
Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell = 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35
Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola danced an impressive Charleston— (BBC/Guy Levy)
Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe = 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35
Nigel Harman and Katya Jones = 7 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 31
Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington = 6 + 7 + 7 + 8 = 28
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Sunday 19 November on BBC One at 7.20pm.
