Strictly Come Dancing latest: Tasha Ghouri and JB Gill land perfect scores as Pete Wicks divides the judges
It was a high-scoring semi-final — though one dance divided the judging panel
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Your support makes all the difference.The Strictly Come Dancing final is now just one week away and tonight (December 7), the remaining five contestants battled it out in the show’s semi-final.
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec opened the show and scored an impressive 35 for their first routine, but it was their second that really impressed the judges, as the former Love Island star landed a score of 40.
JB Gill and Lauren Oakley were also among the couples performing tonight and for their second routine of the evening, they landed a perfect score from the judging panel — putting them top of the leaderboard.
Also performing tonight were Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell, and their emotionally-charged Waltz left both stars in tears.
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola, and Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal completed the semi-finalists. Ahead of the live show, Wicks reached out to fans on social media for their support after mounting backlash about him still being in the competition.
In a post on his Instagram, Wicks and Przystal were seen looking forlorn alongside the caption: “Today is semi-finals day. It’s been 12 weeks of hard work, ups and downs...can we do the unthinkable? We would love your support tonight.”
On the night, Wicks delivered two solid performances. His second was a passionate Argentine Tango that left the judges disagreeing with each other.
Another celebrity will leave the competition on Sunday (8 December) night’s results show, which airs on BBC One at 7.20pm.
An emotional night for Chris and Dianne
They were both fighting back tears as the judges gave their (positive!) criticism.
Even Craig didn’t have anything bad to say, telling the comedian “magical, darling.”
Chris’s scores are in...
9s across the board give him and Dianne a total of 36.
Sarah and Vito’s action-packed Jive
I absolutely adored Sarah’s Charleston last week and I could not have been more excited for her Jive, which is appropriate as she’s performing it to the Pointer Sisters’ hit.
And what a performance, eh? The Jive is so Sarah and Vito coded, and they brought untold amounts of energy to it, pulling off ambitious lifts seamlessly as well. Bravo!
Sarah’s scores are in...
And it’s another full set of 9s! Giving Sarah a score of 36.
Sarah’s Jive had divided the judges, with Craig rubbishing Anton’s claim the routine was “hard” (in the sense of of how heavy her footwork was, rather than difficulty).
Pete closes the show
With an Argentine Tango, no less.
The routine is set to a slowed down version of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” (which is a lot better than it sounds).
Jowita is doing a lot of of the heavy but hey, she looks fabulous and they are both bringing the drama. And Pete did have a burst of footwork at the end that was very well executed.
Judges disagree on Pete’s Argentine Tango
“It lacked any Argentine Tango whatsoever,” Craig said. “For a showdance it was spectacular, but it didn’t represent the Argentine Tango.”
Motsi immediatly diagreed and said: “Dancing is not about steps... dancing is about feeling.” She also labelled the former TOWIE star’s routine “hot” which is absolutey true.
“Why does every Argentine Tango have to do the same?” Shirley offered in Pete’s defence.
Pete’s scores are in...
A 7 from Craig, 8 from Motsi, and 9s from Shirley and Anton give Pete a total of 33 for his second dance of the night. That does put him bottom of the leaderboard with a total if 65 but Chris is only four points ahead of him.
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