It’s fright night in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom, which means the remaining 11 contestants are showing off terrifying transformations as they fight for a place in next week’s competition.
It’s not just the celebrities who have got in the Halloween spirit. The judges are also dressed up, with Craig Revel Horwood and Anton du Beke teaming up and doing their best impression of the twins from The Shining.
With Halloween Week performances inspired by The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice this year, each couple is aiming aim to dazzle with their ghoulish routines – and hopefully not frighten the judges too much.
JLS singer JB Gill and Amy Dowden, who were in the dance-off last week, are dancing a Foxtrot to “Dancing In The Moonlight” by Toploader while comedian Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell are performing a Samba to “Stayin Alive’” by The Bee Gees. Find the full list of songs and dances below.
Contestants are hoping to avoid following in the footsteps of Paul Merson, who was the fourth celebrity contestant to be eliminated last week, joining unsuccessful celebrities Nick Knowles, Toyah Willcox and Tom Dean.
Follow along with our live coverage as Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One.
Key Points
Sarah’s scores are in…
19:58 , Rachel McGrath
And she has a lot to be happy about!
Despite fumbling at the start, Sarah and Vito have managed to land 10s from Motsi and Anton, and 9s from Craig and Shirley.
Sarah delivers the first Argentine Tango of the series
19:57 , Rachel McGrath
And she did a good job!
There was a slight fumble at the start as Sarah struggled to get her leg into the right position to start the dance with a lift. it clearly rattled the actress’s confidence a little but she did recover well in the end.
The actress looks absolutely gutted but the judges aren’t letting the error cloud their critiques too much.
“That was the most wonderful Argentine Tango,” said Craig, before Motsi labelled it: “The dance of the night.”
Jamie’s scores are in…
19:50 , Rachel McGrath
It’s another strong week for the EastEnders actor.
Two 10s (from Shirley and Motsi) and two 9s from the twins give him 38. Bravo!
Jamie’s (not spooky) American Smooth
19:46 , Rachel McGrath
Jamie was joint top of the leaderboard last week after a “near-perfect” Pasodoble – and now he’s dressed as Pugsley from Wednesday. Say what you like about Strictly, but you can’t claim it doesn’t offer variety.
Jamie and Michelle’s costumes were brilliant but there was nothing scary about their American Smooth. The pair were largely beaming throughout and there were even lifts — including one that saw Michelle briefly lift her partner!
Shayne’s scores are in…
19:41 , Rachel McGrath
Three eights and one 7 (from Shirley) give him a very respectable 31.
Shayne Ward brings the drama (eventually)
19:39 , Rachel McGrath
OK, that got off to a slow start as Shayne basically stood on the spot while Nancy danced around him, but we got somewhere in the end!
The duo upped the ante as the music sped up, building to a slightly frantic finale (in a good way).
“It was very intense,” said Motsi. “You followed the story, you were committed to the steps.”
“I was a little confused with the performance,” saids Shirley. “The Pasodoble is known as the man’s dance but you had eight sets of eight before you even took a step.”
Tasha’s scores are in…
19:33 , Rachel McGrath1
Three 9s and a 10 from Anton give Tasha and Aljaz a total of 37 — which should surely be enough for a top 3 finish.
Tasha performs a Samba
19:32 , Rachel McGrath
I did find the song choice a little distracting — ‘I Like to Move It’ is an odd choice anyway and that version was a little weird.
Tasha’s brilliant, isn’t she? And she somehow still looks beautiful painted blue.
The judges have heaped praise on her Samba, which is a difficult dance to pull off but the former Love Island star made it look easy.
Craig summed it up best: “Amazing.”
JB’s scores are in…
19:25 , Rachel McGrath
He’s landed 32 — making his Foxtrot the highest-scored of the series so far. What a way to bounce back from the dance-off.
JB delivers a not so spooky Foxtrot
19:20 , Rachel McGrath
With a solid score of 30 last week, JB did not deserve to be in the dance-off (and perhaps fell victim to the new ‘curse’).
He’s bounced back well with the Foxtrot though. It wasn’t scary or Halloween-y in the slightest, but his and Amy’s scarecrow-themed routine was well-executed. And their wigs are also fantastic, of course.
Wynne’s scores are in…
19:17 , Rachel McGrath
A 7 from Craig and 8s from the other judges give the Welsh opera singer a total of 31.
Wynne gets in on the lift action
19:12 , Rachel McGrath
With their recent controversy well and truly behind them, Wynne and Katya have levelled their dancing up by introducing lifts this week — and poor Wynne’s fear was evident on his face as they kicked off with a string of stunts.
He never looked entirely comfortable and confident as he flung Katya in the air though, which made it a little nerve-wracking to watch.
Punam’s scores are in…
19:08 , Rachel McGrath
And it’s her second-highest score yet! Going along the panel, she received 6, 7, 6 and 7, giving her a total of 26.
Punam pulls off a Tango
19:04 , Rachel McGrath
Sorry but this is fast becoming a wig blog. Punam looks fabulous as a ghost pirate but Gorka’s wig is just beautiful isn’t it?
Dancing wise, it was a decent effort from the GP and she did look more confident than in recent weeks.
“It was all a bit floppy,” Anton said. “I want you to make it to the next level… your dancing is so good underneath and you have so much to offer. It’s all there, you’ve got nothing to be frightened off. You could be absolutely super.”
“I did see a big improvement this week,” said Motsi.
Montell’s scores are in…
18:58 , Rachel McGrath
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
18:55 , Rachel McGrath
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?
18:52 , Rachel McGrath
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…
18:50 , Rachel McGrath
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
18:45 , Rachel McGrath
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…
18:40 , Rachel McGrath
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
18:36 , Rachel McGrath1
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?
18:31 , Rachel McGrath
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?
18:30 , Rachel McGrath
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!
18:26 , Rachel McGrath
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?
Wynne Evans, the Welsh singer hoping to get his opera talents into Strictly dance routines
17:28 , Ellie Muir
Find out everything you need to know about the GoCompare singer below…
Wynne Evans, the singer hoping to get opera into his Strictly dance routines
Strictly Come Dancing 2024 couples – full list of celebrities and their partners
16:37 , Ellie Muir
Tasha Ghouri’s journey from being Love Island’s first ever deaf contestant to Strictly Come Dancing
15:30 , Ellie Muir
Here’s everything you need to know about Ghouri, who’s sailing her way through the competition.
Tasha Ghouri, from being Love Island’s first deaf contestant to Strictly
Strictly’s Giovanni Pernice speaks out candidly on Amanda Abbington scandal for first time
14:54 , Ellie Muir
Former Strictly pro dancer Giovanni Pernice has spoken out about his rehearsal room relationship with Amanda Abbington in detail for the first time since the BBC’s probe into his behaviour.
Read more below.
Strictly’s Giovanni Pernice speaks out on Amanda Abbington scandal for first time
A glimpse into tonights pro routine
14:50 , Ellie Muir
Carlos Gu will lead the professional cast for a Beetlejuice Beetlejuice group rendition.
Here’s a glimpse into the action:
Spooky season is here… find out all of the songs and dances for tonight’s show
14:39 , Ellie Muir
Tonight’s list of songs and dances contains some classics for Strictly Halloween Week, including the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice-themed performances.
Here’s the full list:
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones will dance a Salsa to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe will perform a Cha Cha to “Love Potion No. 9” by The Clovers
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez will perform a Tango to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics
Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin will perform a Jive to “Time Warp” by The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola will perform an Argentine Tango to “Ready Or Not” by Fugees
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec will dance the Samba to “I Like to Move It” by Reel 2 Real
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will dance a Samba to “Stayin Alive’” by The Bee Gees
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas will perform an American Smooth to The Addams Family Theme by Vic Mizzy
JB Gill and Amy Dowden will dance the Foxtrot to “Dancing In The Moonlight” by Toploader
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał will perform a Viennese Waltz to “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu will perform a Paso Doble to “In The Hall of the Mountain King” by Grieg
