Strictly Come Dancing returned for another live show on Saturday, November 14, with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe back on hosting duties to determine which pairings would head to Blackpool. The night featured a notable absence and a comeback that left judges on their feet.
Delta's Partner Change
Delta Goodrem took to the floor with a different partner as her professional dancer, Kai, had to take a week out due to illness. The BBC shared a statement on its official Instagram account on Friday, November 13.
The post read: "Due to illness, Kai is unable to dance on tomorrow night's show. Instead, Aljaž [Škorjanec] will step in to dance the Argentine Tango with Delta. We're sending Kai all our love and hope he feels better very soon."
A Comeback Performance
After coming bottom of the leaderboard last week and ending up in the dance off, Cach Mercer left judges gobsmacked when he took to the dancefloor with Maddie Ingoldsby. The pair performed a Charleston to Blame It On The Boogie and had the audience on their feet.
Craig Revel Horwood was first to deliver his verdict saying: "A-maze-ing!" Motsi Mabuse admitted "Listen, listen, you made us wait for that. It's been a couple of shows, we're like 'when is this going to happen?' Is this going to happen?' You know last week was tight and I'm so glad this happened for you. For me, speaking, that was the dance of the season. The whole season."
Shirley added: "I love in life when you see a comeback person, you know they're in the bottom, they don't know whether they're going home and they come back with a performance like that." Anton told him: "You are flying. That was sensational, well done you."
Fans Divided on the Score
The judges went on to score Cach and Maddie 39 out of 40, with Craig scoring the lower mark. Fans soon took to X, formerly Twitter, to have their say with many agreeing with the judges. One posted: "Yeees Cach! Could not take my eyes off him in that dance: one of the most exciting dances ALL SERIES !!! Absolutely FANTASTIC!!! Loved it !!"
A second said: "Cach for Blackpool & the final!!!! Totally looking like a Winner tonight!!!! Wow!!!!!" A third commented: "Cach deserved that !! Sooo exciting to watch & what I’ve been waiting for from him. Go on Cach !!" Another fan added: "Oh my days Cach that was stunning." And a fifth shared: "I literally jumped up and down for Cach!! 39! 39! 30-effin-9! About bloody time this man got his flowers."
But not everyone felt the same with others thinking he was over-scored. One said: "It was really good, I liked it a lot but wow it was overmarked - Cach and Maddie." Another added: "I’m sorry but Cach’s dance wasn’t a 10 imo." A third commented: "Cache DID NOT deserve those 10s." One more fan shared: "Rather high imho, it was good but not 39 good."
Last Week's Results
Last week Dani Dyer topped the leaderboard while Bethany Antonia and her professional partner Nancy Xu became the sixth couple to bid farewell to the ballroom, after losing the dance-off to Cach and Maddie. However, it wasn't a unanimous decision. Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse chose to save Bethany, while Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas - who had the casting vote - saved Cach.
Bethany and Nancy's exit comes after the departures of Chris Appleton, Melanie Walters, Sarah Storey, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Lawrence Robb. Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
