Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby topped this week's Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard, a week after narrowly avoiding elimination. The former Love Island winner and his professional partner scored 39 points for their Charleston to Blame It On The Boogie by The Jacksons.
Judges' scores and reaction
Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse gave the couple standing ovations, with Mabuse declaring the performance the "dance of the season". Along with Anton Du Beke, they awarded Mercer and Ingoldsby a score of 10, while Craig Revel Horwood, who labelled the performance "amazing", gave them nine.
Last week, Mercer and Ingoldsby faced actress Bethany Antonia and her partner Nancy Xu in the dance-off. Du Beke chose to save Mercer and Ingoldsby, while Mabuse and Revel Horwood voted to save Antonia and Xu. Head judge Ballas made the deciding vote to save the 25-year-old and Ingoldsby.
Delta Goodrem's partner change
In second place is Delta Goodrem, who was forced to undergo a partner change within 24 hours of the live show this week as Kai Widdrington was unable to perform after falling ill. During the live show, she revealed that her partner had been taken to hospital. The Australian singer, 42, instead performed the Argentine tango with Aljaz Skorjanec and was awarded a score of 35.
Mabuse said of the performance: "Dancing with a partner always needs a connection and time to get used to somebody and to get a partner at the last partner at the last minute, a beautiful partner and one of the best I must say, to actually have that energy between the two of you and atmosphere and balance and musicality at the last minute – I rate you so highly for that."
Du Beke added that their dance was "beautiful to watch", while Revel Horwood called it "superb". Speaking about stepping in, Skorjanec said: "I surprised myself a little bit. I'm not the quickest learner and it's not my forte – the Argentine tango. But it's dancing with the stars, not the pros." He told Goodrem: "That dance is so intimate and delicate – you did that, not me."
Other performances and standings
Jaime Winstone was back on the dancefloor with partner Carlos Gu, a week after being forced to sit out due to injury. The pair performed a Charleston to I Can't Do It Alone from Chicago, with Ballas saying the energy between them was "kinetic". They were awarded 33 points.
At the start of the show, host Emma Willis said: "We missed you so much last week and it feels like you are back where you belong on the dancefloor."
After topping the leaderboard last week, Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin are now in joint fifth place after being scored 30 for their paso doble. Revel Horwood told Kuzmin he was "taking the mick" with his choreography and said the routine was "littered with illegal lifts". Olympic skeleton racer Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita were given 30 for their Viennese waltz, with Ballas saying they were a "force to be reckoned with" in the competition. John Nellis and Katya Jones were given a score of 31 for their jive.
Three couples are sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard with equal scores of 27 – Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley; Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola; and Will Best and Dianne Buswell. While Hall was told his dance was littered with mistakes, Turner's partner received criticism that his routine was not actually a foxtrot. Best was told his dance was "plonky" by Du Beke.
The next couple will be eliminated on Sunday night's episode, before Blackpool week is hosted next week. Strictly Come Dancing continues Sunday at 7.15pm on BBC One.
