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 19:35 · emmabullimore]

As I feared, I don't really believe this performance, Joe's not the best actor and again you could see the effort in those lifts. The ganchos and intricate legwork have obviously proved challenging and it's as much as Joe can do to just hit his marks. A good try, but I think what we've learned tonight is that Joe is amazing when he has a week to learn a dance. When he has half a week it isn't so great.

[8 December 2018 19:36 · emmabullimore]

Craig is underwhelmed and felt Joe wasn't leading his partner. Darcey sympathises it's a big ask for a male celebrity, but she wanted more aggression. She says it wasn't bad but also wasn't good. Ouch. Shirley disagrees. Obviously, this is Joe we're talking about.

[8 December 2018 19:37 · emmabullimore]

Tess calling Joe 'adorable' and saying 'look at his little face' is so patronising, and part of the reason we're struggling to see him as a grown-up in these kinds of dances. She's not helping him.

[8 December 2018 19:39 · emmabullimore]

Joe and Dianne: Argentine Tango scores

Craig: 6

Darcey: 8

Shirley: 8

Bruno: 8

Total: 30

'It's a tricky dance, I'm a bit gutted,' says Joe, welling up.

Dianne calls him her dance hero.

Don't worry guys, people will vote for you!

[8 December 2018 19:40 · emmabullimore]

Time for Ashley's second dance. Tess points out that she's the only one of the remaining couples to have ever been in the dance-off, what a lovely thing to hear when you're about to perform! Still, she's right, and Ashley will need to top the leaderboard and get lucky if she's going to avoid the bottom two again. To me her most memorable dance was her old school foxtrot, and American Smooth isn't a million miles away, so this could be ace.

[8 December 2018 19:43 · emmabullimore]

Immediately disappointed they've been given a 'drive-through' theme, so unimaginative. This dance has a lovely quality about it, Ashley looks graceful and there are no obvious faults, but I was really hoping for so much more. I wanted more dramatic lifts, more swagger, less messing around with a car. What a wasted opportunity at a time when they really needed a wow moment.

[8 December 2018 19:44 · emmabullimore]

Darcey is very impressed by the glamour and fluidity and Shirley calls it 'stunning on every level'. I suspect this is a dance that impresses professionals like the judges but won't land with the audience at home. Sometimes certain routines just don't translate from the studio to the telly.

[8 December 2018 19:46 · emmabullimore]

Ashley and Pasha: American Smooth scores

Craig: 10

Darcey: 10

Shirley: 10

Bruno: 10

Total: 40

Well the judges did think it was a wow moment, it's down to the viewers now.

'Ashley taught me to never give up,' says Pasha. Really? Seems unlikely that a professional dancer hadn't learned that already.

[8 December 2018 19:47 · emmabullimore]

Poor Lauren - not only is she following Ashley's perfect 40, she's also got a samba to contend with. This year it's been the cha cha tripping people up, but historically it was always the samba that Strictly couples would dread being saddled with. I'll be surprised if Lauren has the performance level to really pull this off.

[8 December 2018 19:50 · emmabullimore]

Oh dear, it doesn't matter how elaborate you make the prop boat, it can't hide how weak the opening of that dance was. Lauren needs so much more abandon, more energy and even just a sense that she's actually enjoying herself. Towards the middle of the performance she started to smile, which immediately lifted the routine, but there were also mistakes and moments where her mind went blank. Oh dear.