Strictly Come Dancing was back for week 8 last night, bringing some very emotional moments, a couple of wonderful dances, and, as is becoming a feature of this year’s show, some really odd song choices.
This is always the tricky part of Strictly. The contestants on Bake Off worry about having a soggy bottom, but Strictly suffers from a very soggy middle. It all feels a bit formulaic and – whispers – even a bit boring.
The relentless banging on about getting to Blackpool doesn’t help. We get that it’s an iconic place for people who know about ballroom dancing. We understand it means a lot to the judges and the pro dancers.
But to the audience and most of the celebs (with a few exceptions like Angela Rippon or La Voix) it’s just another British seaside town. It’s hard to be excited about something just because you’re told to be excited about it.
We think that when things change next year – with Claudia and Tess moving on from their presenter duties – it might be time to shake things up a bit. There are Strictly spin-offs across the globe, and they’re all a little bit different. We know UK Strictly is the OG but even so, we could take inspiration from other competitions and introduce a few new challenges.
Anyway, those complaints aside, here’s what we thought of the action in Strictly Come Dancing week 8.
All the emotions
Last week, Alex Kingston was in tears. This week it was pro-dancer Carlos Gu who got emotional after his American Smooth with footballer Karen Carney.
Carlos wiped away tears as he talked about how proud he is of Karen and how hard she’s been working. Their dance was a very non-traditional American Smooth to You Don’t Own Me. We kind of loved it, and the judges did too. Craig Revel Horwood even told Karen she was “fantastic”.
Karen and Carlos scored 31 points, and they’re off to Blackpool next week.
George revealed his mum’s health troubles
Elsewhere, YouTuber George Clarke and his partner Alexis Warr visited a farm in their VT. George explained he and his family often went there together when he was younger. And he shared an emotional tale about his mum’s health problems.
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