The comments came after Annabel Croft’s dance this evening.
Anton Du Beke shared a poignant comment about late Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman in tonight’s (Saturday 28th October) episode.
The sweet tribute came after Annabel Croft took to the dance floor with professional partner Johannes Radebe with a Tango to Need U Tonight by INXS.
When host Tess Daly asked the judges for their feedback after the performance, Du Beke remarked: “It was like watching Strictly Come Dancing back in the day.
“I tell you who would love this, dear old Len would love this because you took hold at the beginning. And you started to do a Tango in hold and you came out of hold when the music stopped playing. Absolutely brilliant.”
Du Beke’s comments were quickly met by a round of applause from fellow judge Shirley Ballas and the rest of the audience. “It was just a joyous Tango that was done very, very nicely,” he concluded.
Goodman served as a much-loved judge on the programme for 12 years and passed away from bone cancer in April 2023.
Even notoriously harsh judge Craig Revel Horwood backed up Du Beke’s comments, saying that Annabel had “maintained your frame throughout”, which is “hugely important”.
Reflecting on her dance when back upstairs with Claudia Winkleman, Croft remarked that the Tango was “absolutely amazing” and something she’d always wanted to do.
“It’s passionate, it’s dramatic, it was just great fun out there,” she said.
When Winkleman asked professional Radebe how proud he was of the former tennis player, he said: “I’m extremely proud, Claudia. Where you see where we came on from Monday to Saturday, I am screaming.”
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The pair scored a total of 29 on the Strictly leaderboard, with Annabel and Johannes being one of 10 couples taking to the dance floor for the show’s special Halloween episode.
Earlier in the night, the episode was opened by Winkleman sending out a message to former contestant Amanda Abbington.
She said: “Now earlier this week, Amanda Abbington withdrew from the competition. Amanda, we are sending you all our love.”
The episode is the first in light of Abbington’s official exit from the show, with the Sherlock actress previously missing a week. Now, she has exited the competition, citing “personal reasons”.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 28th October at 6:40pm. The results show will air on Sunday 29th October at 7:20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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