James Bye made a surprise return to Strictly Come Dancing this weekend, appearing in the training room to support his former EastEnders co-star Lacey Turner during Halloween Week. The 42-year-old actor, best known for playing Martin Fowler on the soap, competed on the show in 2022 with professional partner Amy Dowden, reaching Halloween Week before being eliminated.
Halloween Week Return
The hit dance competition aired on Saturday night (October 31) for its anticipated Halloween Week. The remaining couples performed for judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke, with hosts Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe presenting the spooky spectacular.
Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola were the final couple to take to the dance floor, performing a Charleston to "Crazy Stupid Love" by Cheryl and Tinie Tempah. Before their dance, fans were pleased to see James Bye return to support his former co-star.
Emotional Reunion
"It's the best that James has come to see me. He is literally like my brother," Lacey said to the camera. Sitting down with Lacey and Vito, James said: "Knowing you very, very well, I'm blown away. Straight up blown away. You look great on the dance floor."
Lacey noted that her former co-star had warned her the process would be "hard," adding: "You just didn't specify how hard!" James went on: "You are way better than I was. I know that's not hard!" He then joked: "[Halloween] was my favourite week, when I left the show with the Charleston."
The actor concluded: "Lace, you guys are smashing it. I hope your Charleston on Halloween goes a lot better than mine, which I'm sure it will."
Fans React and Leaderboard Success
Strictly fans shared their excitement on social media. "Stacey and Martin reunited," one person wrote on X. Another added: "This made my actual night youse don't get it." A third said: "Martin's back!" while someone else wrote: "JAMES AWWW [crying emojis]." A fifth viewer echoed the sentiment, saying: "JAMES AND LACEY REUNITED GOD I LOVE THEM! OUR STACEY AND MARTIN."
Lacey and Vito's Charleston impressed the judges, earning them the top spot on the leaderboard with 36 points. Motsi Mabuse said: "Wow, best dance of the night. Congratulations! Stunning, stunning!" Shirley Ballas added: "I'm going to say that on week one, I looked at you and [saw that you were] really quite timid... You shocked me [tonight], you had me on the front of my seat. That's a huge improvement, well done."
Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
