Strictly Come Dancing latest: Fans praise Craig Revel and Anton Du Beke’s Halloween week costumes
The annual Spooktacular is back and the remaining 11 pairs were hoping their dancing didn’t frighten the judges
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It was fright night in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom on Saturday, which meant the remaining 11 contestants showed off terrifying transformations as they fought for a place in next week’s competition.
It’s not just the celebrities who got in the Halloween spirit. The judges also dressed up, with Craig Revel Horwood and Anton du Beke teaming up and doing their best impression of the twins from The Shining. Professional dancer Carlos Gu — who doesn’t have a celebrity partner this year — also vied for the Best Costume crown by dressing up as Claudia Winkleman.
On the dancefloor, there were plenty of impressive moments too as Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell opened the show with a Samba to “Stayin’ Alive’” by The Bee Gees. JLS singer JB Gill and Amy Dowden, who were in the dance-off last week, bounced back with a not-so-scary Foxtrot to “Dancing In The Moonlight”.
And Sarah Hadland brought the drama with the first Argentine Tango of Strictly 2024. The actress and her pro partner Vito Coppola got off to a shaky start as Hadland struggled to get her leg into the right position for a lift. Thankfully, the pair soon recovered and the judges didn’t hold the error against them, as two of the panel reached for their 10 paddles.
One of the best moments of the night came right at the end, as Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin closed the show with a “Time Warp” jive — complete with Drag Race-esque costume reveals.
Recap all of the action as it happened below...
Shayne’s scores are in...
Three eights and one 7 (from Shirley) give him a very respectable 31.
Shayne Ward brings the drama (eventually)
OK, that got off to a slow start as Shayne basically stood on the spot while Nancy danced around him, but we got somewhere in the end!
The duo upped the ante as the music sped up, building to a slightly frantic finale (in a good way).
“It was very intense,” said Motsi. “You followed the story, you were committed to the steps.”
“I was a little confused with the performance,” saids Shirley. “The Pasodoble is known as the man’s dance but you had eight sets of eight before you even took a step.”
Tasha’s scores are in...
Three 9s and a 10 from Anton give Tasha and Aljaz a total of 37 — which should surely be enough for a top 3 finish.
Tasha performs a Samba
I did find the song choice a little distracting — ‘I Like to Move It’ is an odd choice anyway and that version was a little weird.
Tasha’s brilliant, isn’t she? And she somehow still looks beautiful painted blue.
The judges have heaped praise on her Samba, which is a difficult dance to pull off but the former Love Island star made it look easy.
Craig summed it up best: “Amazing.”
JB’s scores are in...
He’s landed 32 — making his Foxtrot the highest-scored of the series so far. What a way to bounce back from the dance-off.
JB delivers a not so spooky Foxtrot
With a solid score of 30 last week, JB did not deserve to be in the dance-off (and perhaps fell victim to the new ‘curse’).
He’s bounced back well with the Foxtrot though. It wasn’t scary or Halloween-y in the slightest, but his and Amy’s scarecrow-themed routine was well-executed. And their wigs are also fantastic, of course.
Wynne’s scores are in...
A 7 from Craig and 8s from the other judges give the Welsh opera singer a total of 31.
Wynne gets in on the lift action
With their recent controversy well and truly behind them, Wynne and Katya have levelled their dancing up by introducing lifts this week — and poor Wynne’s fear was evident on his face as they kicked off with a string of stunts.
He never looked entirely comfortable and confident as he flung Katya in the air though, which made it a little nerve-wracking to watch.
Punam’s scores are in...
And it’s her second-highest score yet! Going along the panel, she received 6, 7, 6 and 7, giving her a total of 26.
Punam pulls off a Tango
Sorry but this is fast becoming a wig blog. Punam looks fabulous as a ghost pirate but Gorka’s wig is just beautiful isn’t it?
Dancing wise, it was a decent effort from the GP and she did look more confident than in recent weeks.
“It was all a bit floppy,” Anton said. “I want you to make it to the next level... your dancing is so good underneath and you have so much to offer. It’s all there, you’ve got nothing to be frightened off. You could be absolutely super.”
“I did see a big improvement this week,” said Motsi.
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