Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left divided over the scores given to Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby during Saturday's live show, after the couple delivered a Charleston that one judge described as the dance of the season.
The couple performed to Blame It On The Boogie, having been in the dance-off the previous week and propped up the leaderboard. Their routine drew strong praise from the judging panel, with Craig Revel Horwood declaring "A-maze-ing!"
Judges heap praise on comeback routine
Motsi Mabuse told the couple: "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 Ballas remarked: "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 Du Beke added: "You are flying. That was sensational, well done you."
Fans react to the scores
Cach and Maddie were awarded 39 out of 40, with Craig providing the slightly lower score. On X, formerly known as Twitter, many viewers supported the judges' decision. One wrote: "Yeees Cach! Could not take my eyes off him in that dance: one of the most exciting dances ALL SERIES ! ! ! Absolutely FANTASTIC! ! ! Loved it ! !"
Another declared: "Cach for Blackpool and the final! ! ! ! Totally looking like a Winner tonight! ! ! ! Wow! ! ! ! !" A third stated: "Cach deserved that ! ! Sooo exciting to watch and what I've been waiting for from him. Go on Cach ! !"
However, not everyone agreed, with some believing the marks were too high. 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."
Previous week's results
The previous week saw Dani Dyer claim the top spot on the leaderboard, while Bethany Antonia and her professional partner Nancy Xu became the sixth pairing to depart the ballroom, having lost the dance-off against Cach and Maddie. Craig and Motsi opted to rescue Bethany, whereas Anton and Shirley - who held the deciding vote - chose to save Cach.
Bethany and Nancy's elimination follows the earlier exits of Chris Appleton, Melanie Walters, Sarah Storey, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Lawrence Robb. Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
