Strictly Come Dancing whisked viewers away to the worlds of The Devil Wears Prada, James Bond, The Mask of Zorro, and Thunderbirds for Movies Week on Saturday (October 11).
Fittingly, superstar Cynthia Erivo was brought in as a special guest mentor ahead of her return to the big screen as Elphaba Thropp in next month’s Wicked: For Good – the sequel that will finally unleash her Wicked Witch of the West.
Her mentoring was captured in behind-the-scenes clips, pointing out how the celebrities could push through their choreography much more seamlessly with breath work and finessed limb extensions. Erivo also had the pleasure of sitting in for the latest live show, sandwiched between judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas on the panel, but without a score paddle.
Neighbours favourite Stefan Dennis was given a “buy-through” after the medical team advised him not to perform this week, meaning he’ll back with Dianne Buswell for Week 4.
Elsewhere, ballroom alumni Angela Rippon and Montell Douglas made the trip out to Elstree Film and Television Studios, where they watched on from the sidelines, and Karen Carney’s technique of handling a cup of tea was compared by an etiquette expert to a “toddler’s orchestra”.
Here’s all the unmissable highlights from Strictly 2025’s third week…
“Oscar-winning” opener from Amber and Nikita
Nikita Kuzman and Amber Davies open the show with an American Smooth (BBC One screenshot)
This year’s dark horse Amber Davies conjured up an “Oscar-winning” manouvere during her and Nikita Kuzman’s American Smooth to ‘Sixteen Going of Seventeen’ from classic musical The Sound of Music.
Quick to list off his compliments for once, Craig Revel Horwood told the Love Island 2017 winner: “I’ve gotta say that was so clean, such fluidity throughout. You coped really well with all those weird time signatures going in and out. The Arabesque lift I absolutely adored and that six o’clock ponche, darling, on a bike was Oscar-winning!”
For the uninitiated, a six o’clock ponche is difficult in its demand for core strength. It involves leaning forward into an extended Arabesque so that the raised leg floats high above the body, imitating the eponymous digit.
Ballroom nostalgia with Angela Rippon and Montell Douglas
Cameras caught former contestants Angela Rippon and Montell Douglas watching on from the studio audience (BBC One screenshot)
Following Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Bychkova’s Thor-themed Paso Doble, the cameras surprised viewers with a shot of Angela Rippon and Montell Douglas applauding in the audience.
Rippon competed alongside Kai Widdrington two years ago as the oldest Strictly contestant in history, while Gladiators star Douglas partnered up with Johannes Radebe a year later and made it all the way to the quarter finals.
Of course, there was a minor implosion inside the Strictly hashtag on social media.
Erivo gets the X Factor treatment
Special guest mentor Cynthia Erivo between the judges (BBC One screenshot)
To introduce award-winning actress and singer Erivo, the Strictly production team packaged together something extremely reminiscent of The X Factor when it came to the visuals – according to fans writing on social media that is.
ITV’s stalwart reality competition, which aired between 2004 and 2019, was notable for its use of overblown and gold-tinted announcements (see screenshot below), and so in the eyes of many, Erivo’s special appearance was subjected to the same fate.
“This Cynthia announcement on strictly is giving xfactor 2010s I’m obsessed,” wrote one person on X.
“What is this x factor vt they’ve put together for cynthia,” asked somebody else. “Cynthia Erivo getting the X Factor special guest build up graphics,” echoed another reaction.
Read more:
A glance at the Movies Week score chart
Lewis Cope and Katya Jones lead this week’s scoreboard (BBC One screenshot)
Soap star Lewis Cope and his partner Katya Jones capped off the evening’s Hollywood-heavy routines with what Mabuse called the “dance of the night” and their eventual score reflected that.
37 is the highest any of our celebrities have reached so far in the series.
Ross King and Jowita Przystał are yet to impress the judges (BBC One screenshot)
Karen Carney’s British etiquette training
Karen Carney and Carlos Gu learn how to drink a cup of tea properly (BBC One screenshot)
During Karen Carney and Carlos Gu’s VT, the pair were sent to Sketch in London to meet with posh etiquette instructor William Hanson and learn the ropes of British classiness. This was so the ex-footballer could channel Sandra Bullock’s character FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality out on the dancefloor – Cha Cha Cha’ing to ‘She’s a Lady’ their chosen routine.
“Tea’s tea for me, I don’t really care how it’s done,” she commented as the threesome sat down for a tea-drinking lesson. “If I was stirring I’d just get in there and mix it up.”
Carney proceeded to loudly tap her wet spoon on the fine china to the horror of Hanson. “It got a bit tense when it came to stirring tea and she started whacking the teaspoon on the side of the cup like she was in a toddler’s orchestra,” he told the BBC cameras. Apparently, you must carefully flick the spoon above the cup whilst keeping the elbow tucked in to your side.
Hanson later revealed that the correct pronunciation of ‘scone’ is to simply take the ‘e’ off the end.
Ellie Taylor’s mum shows off groundbreaking Barbie
Ellie Taylor’s groundbreaking Barbie doll came out in the rehearsal space (BBC One screenshot)
Yvonne Taylor stopped by the rehearsal studio to visit her daughter Ellie Taylor and Vito Coppola this week, bringing with her the groundbreaking Down syndrome Barbie doll that hit toy stores back in 2023.
“As you’re doing Barbie this week, I’ve brought in your Barbie doll that Ellie helped to design,” said the proud parent. “The necklace represents an extra chromosome and the butterflies represent beauty, growth and hope.”
Mattel teamed up with the National Down Syndrome Society for this inclusive release, joining Barbie’s Fashionistas line that featured another piece of fantastic plastic wearing braces and a prosthetic-legged Ken. The Down syndrome doll’s face is rounder and its body shorter, with a single line on the palm that a significant percentage of Down’s individuals display. Its feet are also decorated with pink ankle orthotics, which are sometimes used by children with the condition.
Strictly Come Dancing’s results show airs tomorrow (Sunday, October 12) at 7.15pm on BBC One.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
