Strictly Between Us: A musical extravaganza and semi-final predictions
What an epic weekend it was for Layton Williams!
Musicals Week came back with a bang on Strictly Come Dancing last weekend, with incredible performances from iconic theatre shows including Wicked, Moulin Rouge! and Beauty and the Beast.
While fans were expecting Nigel Harman to perform a Charleston to Step in Time from Mary Poppins, it was confirmed by Strictly that he had dropped out of the competition due to an injury.
A BBC spokesperson confirmed his exit ahead of the live show: "Unfortunately Nigel has sustained an injury, which means he is unable to perform in tonight's show and has had to withdraw from Strictly."
This, of course, meant just four celebrities would be performing, and led to the elimination being called off, with the judges' scores being carried over to the semi-final.
Much like in the theatre world, though, the show must go on! The four remaining celebrities gave their all in the competition, with one dancing duo topping the leaderboard after receiving the first 40 of the season.
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Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin performed a paso doble to Backstage Romance from Moulin Rouge! The Musical and had the audience up on their feet cheering them on - and were met with glowing reviews from the judges.
Shirley Ballas praised Layton and Nikita for their "absolutely first-class teamwork", saying, "You were absolutely sensational," before all four judges scored them a perfect 10!
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Just four points behind them were Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola with 36, following their quickstep to Belle from Beauty and the Beast. While the judges were impressed with Vito's ponytail wig, none of the judges found themselves lifting their 10 paddle.
At the other end of the leaderboard were Bobby Brazier and Annabel Croft, with 34 and 33 points respectively.
Head judge Shirley noted that Annabel did a "lovely number" as she "stayed beautifully with the lyrical side of the music", but found that her frame was lacking.
She said: "It didn't have that beautiful side stretch, it lost the lovely neck line, so it wasn't her best frame - but there were other qualities she delivered on Saturday evening."
Read more:
- Grace Dent speaks out on I'm a Celebrity exit: "My heart is broken"
- Strictly Come Dancing's Vincent Simone reveals who he thinks will win
This weekend, the final four celebrities will embark on the semi-final, and given her place on the leaderboard, could Annabel's time on the competition be up?
The tennis star will be performing a Viennese waltz with Johannes, and since this is Strictly Come Dancing, anything could happen!
You can watch the full Strictly Between Us video above.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday 9th December at 7:35pm.
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