EastEnders star Jake Wood will need the viewers’ votes to save him from the dreaded dance-off after Frankie Bridge wowed the judges in Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing Halloween special.
Hertfordshire-based actor Jake, who plays lothario Max Branning in the BBC One soap, and professional dance partner Janette Manrara scored 29 for their petrifying paso doble to Black Betty by Ram Jam on Saturday’s live Strictly show.
However, this season’s top three women – Frankie Bridge, Pixie Lott and Caroline Flack – all scored more than Jake in Week 6 of the ballroom battle, as did Mark Wright.
Twinkle-toed Tewin talent Jake struggled with his footwork during training this week and was glad to get the paso out of the way last night (Saturday).
Judge Craig Revel Horwood thought his performance was “stilted”, but Len Goodman disagreed, as did many fans who thought Jake was underscored.
After the show, which was co-presented last night by Zoe Ball in the absence of Claudia Winkleman, dancer Janette Manrara took to Twitter to thank those who had voted for them.
Jake’s partner @JManrara tweeted: “Guys, @mrjakedwood gave it our best! So proud of him! We’ll find out if we come back next week! Hope we made everyone who supports us proud!”
The Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge finished top with the judges, scoring 37 out of 40 for her tango with Kevin Clifton, including a maximum 10 from Bruno.
Their Wicked routine left the judges spellbound, with Len thinking it was “spectacular”, while Craig said “fab-u-lous”.
Fast-improving former Towie star Mark Wright, now a dark horse for the Strictly Glitterball, and pro partner Karen Hauer totalled a 35 for their impressive jive.
Singer Pixie Lott’s hair-raising tango to Electric Six’s Danger! High Voltage gained 33 from the judges, with Caroline Flack scoring 32. Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff scored 29 for their paso, the same as Jake and Janette.
At the other end of the leaderboard, Judy Murray once again finished bottom with the judges on 20 points, with Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills only marginally better on 21.
However, with both seemingly popular with the voting public, Steve Backshall, Alison Hammond, Sunetra Sarker and Simon Webb all come into the dance-off reckoning.
Any of them could find themselves in the bottom two in Strictly’s results show tonight (Sunday), which will be co-hosted by Zoe Ball and Tess Daly.
Once the judges’ scores have been added to viewers’ votes, the two lowest-scoring couples will perform again in the dance-off, with one pair facing the chop.
Below is the full list of celebrities with their dances and scores from Saturday’s show.
* Frankie Bridge and Kevin Clifton: Tango to ‘Defying Gravity’ from the musical Wicked.
SCORE: 37.
* Mark Wright and Karen Hauer: Jive to ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ from the musical of the same name.
SCORE: 35.
* Pixie Lott and Trent Whiddon: Tango to ‘Danger! High Voltage’ by Electric Six.
SCORE: 33.
* Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev: Samba to ‘Le Freak’ by Chic.
SCORE: 32.
* Jake Wood and Janette Manrara: Paso Doble to ‘Black Betty’ by Ram Jam.
SCORE: 29.
* Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff: Paso Doble to ‘Poison’ by Alice Cooper.
SCORE: 29.
* Sunetra Sarker and Brendan Cole: Jive to ‘Tainted Love’ by Gloria Jones.
SCORE: 27.
* Steve Backshall and Ola Jordan: Charleston to ‘Dem Bones Dem Bones’ by Kay Starr.
SCORE: 26.
* Alison Hammond and Aljaž Skorjanec: American Smooth to ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Kate Bush.
SCORE: 26.
* Scott Mills and Joanne Clifton: Foxtrot to The Addams Family Theme.
SCORE: 21.
* Judy Murray and Anton Du Beke: American Smooth to ‘Cruella De Vil’ from the movie 101 Dalmations.
SCORE: 20.
* Strictly Come Dancing The Results can be seen on Sunday, November 2 on BBC One from 7.20pm.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here