Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left emotional after Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley's latest routine, which was dedicated to Graeme's experience of surviving a stroke in 2019.
Saturday night's show marked the halfway point of the competition as the remaining couples took to the ballroom floor once again in hope of impressing judges Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas, along with viewers watching at home.
Emotional Couple's Choice routine
Dog trainer Graeme and his professional partner Lauren performed their Couple's Choice to The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel. The routine was dedicated to Graeme's personal experience of surviving a stroke in 2019.
Graeme opened up about the symptoms he experienced in an emotional VT that aired before their performance, where he admitted "it was scary" and "it never occurred to me that i'd be dancing again" before bursting into tears.
Fans react on social media
The judges scored Graeme and Lauren's routine 28 out of 40, and fans rushed to social media to praise the performance. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan penned: "THAT couples choice was surprisingly touching."
Another added: "As someone who watched a family member go through a stroke last year (though sadly their story didn't have a happy ending) I am in tears over here."
A third person said: "That dance was amazing. So emotional. I lost my Dad to a stroke so this hit me in the feels." A fourth said: "I was so emotional watching this couple's choice."
Graeme's message of hope
Appearing on BBC Morning Live earlier this week, Graeme explained: "Well in 2019, I had a stroke and it's not something I've talk about publicly really, but I recovered fully. I was one of the lucky ones but it took quite a while and life changed in a big way, as you can imagine.
"So it's the Couple's Choice this weekend and we're dancing a song that, it's, I think it's a beautiful dance that's been put together, but it's about hope really. Whatever you're going through, whatever it is, sometimes you need to dig deep, keep on going because there's always hope and that's the theme of the song and I'm hoping it might inspire a few people."
Lauren added: "With Couple's Choice we're always helped with an outside choreographer so I've had one of the assistant choreographer on the show choreographing for us this week and helping me. It's quite a lyric piece of choreography, it's very ballroom based. We get the chance to see Graeme's more tender side because obviously we've a lot of characters so far. We've been green, we've been ABBA, we've been spies and we just want to show Graeme this week. We're really excited to perform it."
Graeme went on to share that he's received messages from stroke survivors since he opened up about his experience on Strictly earlier in the series. He said: "There are times when you just need to see somebody who's come out the other side, and then you can kind of believe there is live after. So if it helps one person out there, this dance, it will be worth it."
Actress Jaime Winstone didn't perform on Saturday night due to injury, but she received a bye through to next week when it is hoped she'll dance again with professional partner Carlos Gu, who won Strictly last year with former footballer Karen Carney. Strictly Come Dancing: The Result airs Sunday, November 6 at 7.10pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
