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Louise Thomas
Editor
Strictly Come Dancing has eliminated its first celebrity contestant from the 2024 series.
After two weeks without any public voting, everything changed on Saturday night (28 September) when viewers at home were allowed to pick up their phones and cast their votes for the first time this year.
After the scores were tallied, it was announced that singer Toyah Willcox and Olympic swimmer Tom Dean would be facing the dreaded dance-off.
As they danced again on Sunday night (29 September), Willcox and her partner Neil Jones performed their Jive to “Nutbush City Limits” by Ike & Tina Turner, while Dean danced and his partner Nadiya Bychkova danced a Cha Cha to “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind and Fire, the judges ultimately decided to save Toyah for her most improved performance.
It was over to the judges to decided who would go home, with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse voting to save the singer, while Anton Du Beke was in the minority when he voted to save Dean and Bychkova.
Asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Dean said he had the “best time” and wished he could have gone further in the competition.
“I’ve had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible,” he said.
“I’ve had the most fun and I wish we could keep going longer and longer. We’ll still go out for loads of brunches I’m sure.”
Bychkova added: “To get to know him, he’s not just a three-time Olympic champion he’s a true gentleman and he taught me how to work really hard and how to put everything in. And you know what? On this programme, sometimes to win, you don’t need to win, and that’s how I feel this year.”
In week one, Dean performed a Tango to “Golden” by Harry Styles and received an overall score of 23 out of a possible 40, with judges saying he needed to improve his posture and flow.
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Sunday’s results show also featured a routine from the judges and professional dancers to “When Doves Cry” by Prince. Plus, there was an electric musical performance of God “Gave Me Feet for Dancing” from Ezra Collective featuring Yazmin Lacey.
During Saturday night’s show, Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and her pro partner Aljaž Škorjanec topped the leaderboard after receiving the first nine of the series.
Ghouri, who has previous dance experience, moved her dad in the audience to tears with her delicate Viennese Waltz to “Misty Blue” by Dorothy Moore. Their score, 35, was the highest ever for a Viennese Waltz in week two of the competition in Strictly history.
Miranda star Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola, who stunned the audience with their intense and heated Paso Doble to “Freed From Desire” by Gala, came second on the leaderboard, following behind by three points with 32.
Shayne Ward and his partner Nancy Xu pleasantly surprised the judges as they crept up the leaderboard from last week with their sensual Tango to “The Door” by Teddy Swims. They were awarded an impressive score of 31, up 10 points from last week’s score of 21.
Next week, the remaining 14 couples will take to the dancefloor next week in a Movie Week special, where each couple will channel a different film.
