Strictly Come Dancing has had its most competitive week of the series yet as the final eight couples performed at Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
During the episode, Sarah Hadland broke down in tears as she explained the story behind her Couples Choice performance. Meanwhile, viewers were left conflicted over the scoring of Pete Wicks’ “mesmerising” Cha Cha.
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec held their position at the top of the leaderboard for the third week running with their Paso Doble. They were joined at the top of the leaderboard by Hadland and Vito Coppola who also scored 39 points for their performance.
Closely behind them was comedian Chris McCausland who scored his highest score of the series for his American Smooth to “Jump” by Paul Anka, which left his proffesional partner Dianne Buswell in tears of joy.
It was a week of personal bests as Montell Douglas and her partner Johannes Radebe scored the highest score for a Salsa this series after they were awarded 35 points for their performance to “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Kylie Minogue.
At the other end of the scale was Pete Wicks who scored 27 points for his Cha Cha to “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred.
The reality star was praised for his upper body isolation. However, his “entertaining” hip action left judges in fits of laughter.
Here’s the week nine leaderboard in full with the individual marks from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke:
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec: (9+10+10+10+10) = 39
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola: (9+10+10+10) = 39
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell: (8+9+10+10) = 37
JB Gill and Lauren Oakley (Stepping in for Amy Dowden): (8+9+9+9)=35
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe: (8+9+9+9) = 35
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas: (8+8+8+9)=33
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones: (8+8+8+7) = 31
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał: (4+7+8+8) = 27
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