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...
Montell’s scores are in...
Having finished joint top of the leaderboard last week, Montell has landed another solid score.
Every judge (apart from Anton!) has scored her with a 9. Anton’s 8 brings Montell’s total to 35.
Johannes’s wig steals the show
Montell’s Cha Cha wasn’t bad at all but quite frankly, I couldn’t stop staring at Johannes’s wig. The wardrobe, hair and make-up teams really have outdone themselves this year.
Wait — has Carlos Gu won Halloween?
Sorry but I think I was wrong to say Craig and Anton had the best costumes. Why? Carlos has dressed as Claudia. Sensational.
Pete’s scores are in...
He’s landed a total of 31 with 8s from every judge apart from Craig — which is Pete’s highest score yet.
Giving feedback, the judges heaped praise on the former TOWIE star’s progress so far.
“When you play this back, you’re going to be very, very proud of yourself, like I am,” said Shirley, before Anton labelled the dance Pete’s best so far this series.
Craig brought Pete back to earth a little, but even he had praise.
”It was slightly behind the beat,” he said. “The characterisation was absolutely formidable. You have grown brilliantly.”
Pete improves again
With Paul and Nick gone, Pete is undeniably one of the weaker contenders left in the competition — but he has impressed with ballroom before, and his Waltz tonight was a genuinely promising performance.
I can’t lie, I enjoyed this more than I did Joker 2.
Chris’s scores are in...
A 5 (from Craig) and three 7s give Chris total of 26 — he’ll definitely need a lot of support from viewers to avoid the dreaded dance-off.
A solid Samba to start the show
That was good! I don’t think it was Chris’s strongest dance yet but the Samba is notoriously tough.
The judges seem reasonably pleased too. Shirley has praised the comedian’s dance content and characterisation as “fabulous” and “amazing”, adding: “Overall you did very well.”
“Your timing, as always, was excecptional,” said Anton.
Is there a new curse in town?
Viewers have spotted a pattern emerging this series - whoever performs first seems to end up in the dance-off. It happened last week to JB Gill and previously to Shayne Ward (both of whom really didn’t deserve to be there). Best of luck to Chris and Dianne!
Have Craig and Anton won Halloween already?
The judges always go all in with their costumes, but these two being dressed as the twins from The Shining is a seriously brilliant choice. It’s a 10 from me.
And we’re off!
Roll up, roll up — it’s Strictly Halloween week! Second only to Blackpool, this is undeniably one of the most-anticipated weeks of each series. Yes, I am saying I look forward to this more than the final.
This year’s Spooktacular has plenty of dances worth tuning for, including an Addams Family American Smooth and a Jive to “Time Warp”. It’s less clear how some of the other routines will be given a Halloween feel, but maybe that just makes it more exciting?
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