Layton Williams and Ellie Leach found themselves joint top of the leaderboard.

By Katelyn Mensah

Published: Sunday, 19 November 2023 at 11:04 AM

It was an exhilarating night on Strictly Come Dancing as the celebrities took to the Blackpool Tower dance floor in truly epic fashion.

With the quarter finals around the corner, the competition was on and this year’s line-up did not hold back when it came to their routines.

For all the highlights and best moments from Strictly Come Dancing 2023’s Blackpool week, check out our catch-up video above.

Viewers were in awe of the Strictly pros as they opened the show with an “iconic” routine, as they performed to Somebody Else’s Guy by Jocelyn Brown.

All eyes were on Joannes Radebe when he burst out onto the dance floor in a sparkly green jumpsuit, with the audience cheering and those on social media praising the Strictly pro.

Bobby Brazier and his dancer partner Dianne Buswell kicked off the performances with a Jive to Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham!, and received their highest score of the series with 35 points.

The judges were highly impressed with the routine and head judge Shirley Ballas told Bobby: “You brought everything to this dance. I’m so proud of you.”

Motsi Mabuse even declared the Jive Bobby’s “personal best”.

Angela Rippon found herself at the bottom of the leaderboard with 28 points after failing to impress all of the judges with her American Smooth to Tea for Two by Ella Fitzgerald.

While she performed a lift during the routine, the judges weren’t convinced and she received a 6, 7, 7 and 8.

Meanwhile, Layton Williams and Ellie Leach found themselves in joint top spot with 39 points apiece, with Craig giving them a 9 on both occasions while the other judges gave them 10s.

Layton performed a Couple’s Choice to Ain’t No Other Man by Christina Aguilera, which included several flips and impressive form, but Craig was not convinced and noted he and Nikita seemed out of sync at times.

Ellie Leach danced a Charleston to Love Machine by Girls Aloud and while Craig admitted Ellie had the best cross swivel he had seen on the show, yet gave her nine points.

Fans were left unimpressed with the scores, with one viewer writing on X (formerly Twitter): “Beyond annoyed at Craig – what more can Layton do to get a 10!”

“At this point I’m starting to think that Craig will never get his 10 paddle out,” another user penned.

Read more:

• Strictly fans “beyond annoyed” as Layton and Ellie both denied perfect 40
• Strictly fans rave about “iconic” Blackpool opening routine

Much like Bobby Brazier, Angela Scanlon also received her best score of the series so far. She and her partner, Carlos Gu, performed an Argentine Tango to Back To Black by Amy Winehouse and scored 38 points in the competition.

“You came into the lift and they looked beautiful,” Anton Du Beke said of Angela’s frame during the routine, before giving them 10 points.

Following all the performances, the public vote was opened with viewers getting the chance to vote to save their favourite dancing duos.

The two celebrities with the fewest votes will face the dreaded dance-off, after which the judges will have to decide who they want to remain in the competition.