Strictly Come Dancing latest: Pete Wicks leaves viewers in tears as Lauren Oakley replaces Amy Dowden again
Two Couple’s Choice performances and a stunning American Smooth provided three of this week’s most memorable moments
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Strictly Come Dancing was back on BBC One for week eight, but professional dancer Amy Dowden will not be returning for the remainder of the series.
Dowden, who was partnered with JLS singer JB Gill, was replaced by Lauren Oakley, after the former was rushed to hospital, having fallen ill during a live show. The Welsh dancer, 34, had returned to competing in the BBC show for its 20th anniversary series following cancer treatment.
Dowden clarified that her “insufficiency stress fracture” had “nothing to do with any previous health scares”.
The action-packed episode saw the nine remaining celebrities fighting not just for their place in the compeititon, but to dance in the Blackpool Tower ballroom as next week’s live episode takes place in the iconic venue.
Plenty of the stars upped their game, including Pete Wicks — who landed his highest score yet (and left one of the judges choking back tears) with a Couple’s Choice routine dedicated to his late grandmother.
Earlier this week, the series has been plagued by rumours that fan-favourite Johannes Radebe is set to quit, after several outlets reported that his schedule for 2025 would mean he would be too busy to participate.
He is billed to star in Kinky Boots: The Musical for the first half of the year while he works on a film adaptation of his life story. Radebe hit back at the claims, writing “I’m not going anywhere!” in a post on Instagram.
Last week, Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin were eliminated as they lost out to Radebe and Montell Douglas after placing in the bottom two following a public vote.
Wynne’s joyous Quickstep
Last week Wynne danced a Rumba and even sung at the end, and this week, he’s getting his groove on to Mika, while sporting a technicolour dreamcoat.
This is a joyous routine that really suits the opera singer! But will it be enough to land him a spot in the Blackpool special? The judges are certainly heaping praise on it.
“Wynne you are refining your craft,” Shirley said. “Your footwork is moving along nicely. What a wonderful performance.”
“Absolutely wonderful,” added Anton, though Craig thinks he “lacked style and grace”. “I love watching you dance,” he added. “I love your energy and your performance is absolutely brilliant.”
“You are living to your potential,” said Motsi. “You are absolutely giving your best.”
Wynne’s scores are in...
He’s received a 7, two 8s and a 9, for a total of 32. Not bad at all.
Montell bounces back from the dance-off
Montell ended up in the dreaded dance-off last week, which felt a little unfair. Her Icons Week tribute to Whitney Houston had been a joy to watch and she’d ended up fourth on the leaderboard. Also can take a second her for and Johannes’s couple name? MoJo. That’s worth at least one extra point.
The Paso is her dance, clearly. Strong, powerful, packed with emotion. I’m not 100% sure how I felt about the music choice though... I’m not sure “Lola’s Theme” was quite right for this.
‘The warrior of the evening’
Here’s what the judges made of Montell’s dance (thankfully they loved the song choice).
“I actually loved it,” said Montell. “It was quite clear what you’re message was and it felt like, I am staying in this competition no matter what. There was fight and attack in every moment but still with class. It was so intense, I really, really liked that.”
“I think for me, you’re the warrior of the evening,” Shirley said.
Anton has resorted to just reading from his notebook. “I’ve written here, ‘I love acceleration’,” he says.
“Your foot was sickled, which is such a terrible shame because it wa almost perfect,” said Craig. “That was something else.”
Montell’s scores are in...
And it’s 9s across the board! She should be very pleased with her total of 36.
Chris reveals he said no to Strictly multiple times
Chris has had a difficult couple of weeks in the competition, and found himself joint second from bottom of the leaderboard last week - his Couple’s Choice, quite frankly, couldn’t have come at a better time.
I’m so pleased he’s lasted long enough on the show to tell his story fully, as he did in the VT, explaining how he lost his sight as a teenager.
He said in his VT: “I was asked to do Strictly a few times and I said no, because I was scared to be honest. I realised saying no was selfish. It’s not that people with disabilities need to see themselves on TV to be inspired, but everyone else does.”
Chris closes the show in style
And starts on a chair, naturally. A lot of celebs go for emotional routines for their Couple’s Choice and while this obviously means so much, it’s lovely to see a total celebration.
The lifts are incredible, he and Dianne are clearly having a great time. The lights going down only for them to reappear spinning in the dark was wonderful. Bravo!
“That routine deserves to be in a musical,” said Craig, who choreographs musicals when he’s not judging, so that really means a lot.
‘I felt such joy in my heart watching you dance,” said Motsi. “You’re inspiring us all on the dancefloor, I love it. Thank you.”
“It’s the most unique partnership on any Strictly I’ve experienced around the world,” said Shirley, who was nearly in tears.
Chris’s scores are in...
It’s a 7 from Craig, 8 from Motsi, and 9s from Shirley and Anton, for a total of 33.
The vote is open!
It really does feel impossible ot say who is safe and who isn’t this week, so your vote could mean more than ever to your fave couple (and don’t forget, you get three votes if you cast them via the Strictly website).
Voting closes at 8.35pm so you really don’t have long. Go, go, go!
Voting is closed
I did warn you there wasn’t much time to cast your vote. The lines (and website) have now closed and the celebrities’ fates lies have almost bee decided. For seven pairs, Blackpool is now calling. The bottom two couples will need to dance-off in a fight for their place in the annual special.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments