Strictly Come Dancing, semi-final: 5 talking points, from Lauren Steadman's disappointing evening to Ashley Roberts and Faye Tozer topping the leaderboard

Joe Sugg also struggles with two dances as he tumbles down the leaderboard

Strictly Come Dancing: Ashley Roberts & Pasha Kovalev top leaderboard at semi-final for American Smooth routine

Wow. After the relative ease of learning one, fun, musicals-themed number for last week’s special, tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing semi-final really split the men from the boys. Or should we say the Ashleys from the Laurens.

With each couple performing two routines, the pressure was intense and we saw dancers crumble out on a lonely dance floor. Here’s what happened:

A tough night for Joe and Lauren

Learning two dances in one week is a big ask and it just proved too much for Joe Sugg and Lauren Steadman, only adding more fuel to the fire in the debate around dance experience and Ashley Roberts’ background as a performer. While clearly disappointed with the battering from the judges, Lauren looked fairly resigned – she’s been here before and after her disastrous Argentine Tango, she surely knew she was up against it with a ballroom version of the same dance.

Joe looked completely crestfallen though and even admitted he was "gutted". He just couldn’t find the characterisation or attack for his Argentine Tango and you could see the cogs turning in his mind as he tried to remember the steps. It’s a shame they didn’t have more time to work on the routines – they could have been better.

Stacey continues to sparkle

With four tens and nothing lower than a nine, Stacey should be thrilled with tonight’s performances. She nailed the Charleston, the dance that made her sign up to Strictly in the first place, and the Viennese Waltz wasn’t perfect, but still impressive enough to leave everyone smiling.

Plus she’s had that all-important ‘journey’, which is something Faye and Ashley would kill for to bag them a few more votes. After four years as the runner-up, you get the feeling this could finally be Kevin’s year to lift the trophy. Although we’ve definitely said that before…

Ashley and Faye top the leaderboard

Again. This time they’re sharing the honours, sitting pretty on 76 points out of a possible 80, looking down at the mere mortals beneath them. The funny thing was they both had one rough dance by their standards: Ashley’s Paso Doble was generally written off as disappointing, especially after Pasha almost fell over, and ever-chirpy Faye Tozer clearly has a real and fierce hatred for the samba. Still, it’s the glamour of Ashley’s American Smooth (a perfect 40) and the drama of Faye’s Argentine Tango (39) that we will remember.

Craig’s claws were out

Craig’s currently in panto with Paul Chuckle (why isn’t this being televised?), and he brought the essence of his Wicked Stepmother routine to Elstree this evening. He started by picking a fight with Shirley over Lauren’s frame (unwise, Craig). Then he not only criticised Kevin’s choreography (a Strictly cardinal sin), but also accused him of cheating, by allowing Stacey to avoid the more difficult steps. Then CRH’s nit-picking with Faye was so outrageous that mild-mannered Darcey felt the need to intervene. Still, no cat-fighting with Bruno, which was obviously disappointing.

An impossible show to call

It really should be obvious who will make the final by now. Weeks ago it seemed clear-cut: Stacey and Joe would book their places via the fans, with Faye and Ashley earning theirs outright with stunning performances. But Lauren has thrown a huge spanner in the works. She’s the weakest dancer by far, but she’s never been in a dance-off. Ashley is incredibly capable, but she doesn’t have the viewer support. And with all the attention on those two, is it possible that Faye or Stacey could be in for a nasty shock as people feel they’re already safe? There will definitely be tears on Sunday night…

Catch up on everything that happened during the Strictly Come Dancing semi-final below.

The Strictly Come Dancing results show is on Sunday on BBC One.

[8 December 2018 19:01 · emmabullimore]

Strong Paso face, Ashley! Mustn't get distracted by Pasha's brilliant cape work. This is dramatic, with great Spanish lines and effortlessly brilliant shaping through the back, not an easy thing to achieve. Still this routine is lacking a certain something. Difficult to tell if it's the choreography (slightly repetitive) or if Ashley's confidence has just been knocked. I'm expecting her American Smooth to be stronger.

[8 December 2018 19:03 · emmabullimore]

Craig points out Ashley slightly lost her balance at the end - a risk you take when you attack a dance with such intent. Darcey isn't keen on Pasha's choreography, just like last week. And he's just had to admit that the wobble was his fault. Not a great week to be Pasha. Brrrrruno's excited. This is unsurprising but enjoyable nonetheless.

[8 December 2018 19:05 · emmabullimore]

Ashley and Pasha: Paso Doble scores

Craig: 9

Darcey: 9

Shirley: 9

Bruno: 9

Total: 36

Ashley's happy with that, but you can tell she's just desperate to do that American Smooth, I think it's going to be special.

[8 December 2018 19:06 · emmabullimore]

Here come Lauren and AJ with the Tango. Should we bother watching the dancing or will everyone just vote her through anyway? Her Argentine Tango earlier in the series totally lacked any drama or emotion, so she'll really need to work on the characterisation if she wants high scores for the ballroom version.

[8 December 2018 19:08 · emmabullimore]

No Lauren, just pouting and glaring doesn't constitute acting! After a slow start this has built up some momentum, but I'm not convinced. Stacatto movement is not the same as stompy, I really feel this lacks the necessary precision and just looks awkward. Although, to be fair, it's always going to be hard to nail these details when you're suddenly trying to learn two routines in the same week.

[8 December 2018 19:10 · emmabullimore]

Darcey finds some moments to praise, she likes Lauren's determination, but she wanted slicker head movements and more precision. Shirley says they got out of sync towards the end of the dance. Brrrrrruno calls it grown up and mature. Not sure he's qualified to call anyone grown up (that's a joke, you all know I love him).

[8 December 2018 19:12 · emmabullimore]

Craig calls it 'stiff', 'pedestrian' and 'flat-footed' and then has a panto spat with Shirley about Lauren's frame. Classic.

[8 December 2018 19:13 · emmabullimore]

Lauren and AJ: Tango scores

Craig: 7

Darcey: 8

Shirley: 8

Bruno: 8

Total: 31

Lauren shrugs her shoulders and says she's excited that it's nearly Christmas. Hilarious acknowledgement that there's anything happening in the world except Strictly.

[8 December 2018 19:14 · emmabullimore]

Here comes Faye! She's on a high after last week's perfect Charleston, but admitted on It Takes Two that she is not a fan of the samba. Don't worry Faye, few people are. It's so rare to see any negativity from Faye, it worries me how ropey this routine might be...

[8 December 2018 19:17 · emmabullimore]

This is more tentative than we're used to from Faye - she's smiling all the way through, but needs to remember the energy she gives to a STEPS performance! Still, those were impressive, fluid samba rolls and this certainly isn't too shabby. It's just not quite as sparkly and compelling as we're used to. It's fine, Faye fans, her other dance is an Argentine Tango, which will play to all her strengths.