Episode 13 Strictly - It Takes Two

Hello, and welcome to Wednesday's It Takes Two. Tonight I'm spoiling you

with three delightful couples on the sofa. Our super-smooth storyteller

Mark is here with partner Iveta. Fresh from playing snakes and

ladders with Len, Fiona and Anton are here. He's just about recovered

from Saturday night's love in with Craig - Ben and his partner Kristina

are here. And how about a Wednesday warm up to get us all in the mood.

Ian Waite's back. I feel all warm inside This is Strictly It Takes

Two. . Live from London, this is Strictly

Come Dancing: It Takes Two. Please welcome your host, Zoe Ball.

Hiya. Hiya! Tonight, welcome to It Takes Two with 13 couples left in

the competition. Saturday will prove unlucky as one pair has to go.

Hopefully not our next couple, Fiona and Anton. I'll be talking to them

in a moment, but first, here's a quick recap of Saturday's waltz -

two, three, one, two, three. You're playing snakes and ladders. Last

night you went down the snake, but this week back up the ladder - oh,

yes. Oh, Fiona, you have turned into Grace Kelly. You've danced with ease

and elegance. At times I can still see you slightly losing focus. Don't

do that because you've got it within you. I thought the whole thing was

extremely elegant and beautifully danced

APPLAUSE 7! 7. 7! 28! 28! It was a very

loving dance. I just wish I could have looked at you a little bit more

often, but in the waltz, it's not like that. It was my pleasure to

dance with you. I had the best birthday ever. What a classy

pairing. Please welcome strictly's very own Grace Kelly and Bing

Crosby, Fiona and Anton. I don't know what you're laughing at. It's

true. What a tender and stunning moment on Saturday, and Fiona, quite

rightfully, you were compared to Grace Kelly. That must have felt

quite nice for you. Yes, it's an enormous complement. I felt more

like Matthew Kelly, but you know! A very big complement for Matthew

Kelly as well. He'll be thrilled. The exciting thing is you were very

excited to dance with the King of waltz himself. Love there show!

Anton. I know. We're going to give you a official title and a crown. He

needs a crown. Like a Lord's Mayor's necklace and the rest of it, but

when you're out there on the dancefloor of all the weeks you have

danced with her, did this feel particularly special? This was a

super week for me because it was a lovely dance. It was a lovely song.

Lance Elliot was singing it, who sings just beautifully, and we

danced it so nicely together. She looked beautiful that dress. That

was such a fabulous dress. It was. The whole things with just a great

moment, a minute-and-a-half of joy for me, so thank you. Well done. You

were amazing. Yes, well done! And also, all the hiccups from the week

before went. You kept it perfectly on the floor. You were able to keep

focus out there this week. Well done. Yes, I don't know how! Get in

the zone! In the zone! I think you just get used to it. It's so

nerve-racking but hopefully it gets easier. Is it getting a little bit

easier? No, don't say that Len was talking about a game of Snakes and

Ladders. How are you going to keep going up the rungs of the ladder and

not slide on the slippery snakes? The most difficult thing about this

show is doing it on Saturday night - it sounds an obvious thing to say

but until you have had a go, until you have walked out there on

Saturday night and tried it, it's unknown territory. It's so

difficult. Just doing that more often, and we have been lucky enough

to do it three times so far - three times... That's right.

LAUGHTER How many dances? So the more we do,

hopefully, the better it becomes, more familiar with the Saturday

night, but it's so nerve-racking. It's difficult. It is. I just dance

too quickly. It's like when you're acting, and you're nervous you,

speak too quickly. Apparently I am doing the same thing I dance really,

really quickly. It will be perfect for quick-step. You can imagine

you'll fire around. Craig was talking about how delightful it was

for Anton to have a partner who can show off his dancing skills as well.

Ah, you see. Because you're so good. See how generous I am, Zoe? You are.

I let him have the stage. Thank you. And he twirls around me - finally

has his moment. I am just thrilled - you can come along and be brilliant.

We think we know the seek Rhett to your pairing now. The two towers

have been watching you. Look. Interesting. The thing about

training is you have to have regular breaks, and I'm a huge tea drinker.

I love my tea. Fancy a cup of tea. Do you mind? Not at all. Let's go.

Tea for two, and two for tea. Shall we have some tea? I'm going to have

a cup of tea. I'll put the kettle on. Is it time for a tea break?

She's popped out to have a cup of tea. I hope that's what everybody

else is doing, not just me. Earle Grey for moi. I might just have a

couple of tea. I like to let it brew for a long time. Run out of builders

- I'll bring some tomorrow. And I'm happy. They have tea at the Vic Raj

- this is Strictly Come Dancing! It's working. If we have Jonathan

coming in with Earle Grey for Fiona. Oh, wonderful. Look at that! He put

an F on it for fabulous! Rumba this week, you've got to follow Ben.

You've got to follow Natalie. How good is your rumba shaping up to be?

A complete disaster. Don't say that! Really? It's tremendous. Look at

that. I've never had so many bruises in my whole life. I don't know what

I've done to offend him, but he's throwing me across the floor. It's

all in the name of love. The throws are great, but I just can't... Go

on. Go on! You missed it. Have faith. It will be gorgeous. What's a

bruise between friends? Yeah! Foxy Fullerton and Delish bu beck. Thank

you. Stick around. I'll get some cake. It's time to look ahead at the

dance-off we can expect on Saturday. He's here. It's went. It's his

warm-up time. It's Ian Waite. -- it's Wednesday.

Will you look who is here? It's Ian Waite.

APPLAUSE Just slipped in the back entrance.

Just slipped in! Welcoming as the winter nights draw in. It's lovely

to have you here. Four nights into the competition, are the celebrities

and our professionals stepping it up a gear for the weekend? I watched on

Saturday night with my dog once again, and I had a great time. I

thought that all the couples had stepped it up a gear, and to be

honest, yeah, it's looking very good. It is. The standard is looking

good. It is. We're going to talk about the Latin this week. We're

talking about sussauna and Kevin, when England won. The whole nation

went into a giant samba, so exciting. Does she have good double

bounce action? A great dance last week, two 9s. This is a really good

dance. There is lots of content in here, so basically, lots of things

could go wrong. What I have done is stopped it here because what I

wanted to show you is the leg. Going into this promenade run, she needs

to stretch the leg out at the back and bend the knee at the front. A

bit like Kevin. Like Kevin there. One, two, three. And stretching that

back leg as much as possible and bending into the front knee, so get

your weight off the back toe... . Can you help me up again? I think I

might be stuck. Sorry about that. Julien and Janet two, weeks, in the

bottom two, give him a break. It he's try so hard. He's work so hard.

I really would love it if he made it. And the salsa this week? Tell

you what, it's one of the most difficult dances, salsa. I think

that could expose some problems. The thing is - I would like him to work

on is around the middle. He needs to loosen up that middle. Remember,

salsa is all about rhythm. Rhythm, hips... He needs a good rhythm. I

think he can do that Patrick andanya are doing the chau, chau, chau. You

have always said you liked his chau-chau-chau? Yes. Once he gets

into it, he's a good little mover. He's moving very fast. The only

critique I can say at the moment with his dance is this - we never

really want to see this... No! We never really want to see flat feet.

Where should they be? He puts his feet down. You have to use your heel

on every step. They're everywhere in the cha-chacha. Deborah, very good

Saturday night, a jive. How were her flicks and kicks? Not that great. To

be honest, Debra, to me, she has a certain amount of natural ability,

and she's quite musical, but what she doesn't do in this jive is she's

not using the balls of her feet, and she hasn't got that a-one-a-two,

a-one-a-two, that accent in the music. I like it. Which keeps it

light and bouncy. Never stop doing that. I love it. Ben and Kristina,

an excellent rumba from big g Ben at the weekend - so, so good. Hold on.

It's Fiona and Anton. Can we go back to them? Their rumba - she's being a

very obedient student. I don't know what she's talking about saying

she's not elegant. I think she's very elegant. She has a good sense

of posture. She just has to believe in herself. What I would say, Fiona,

is you just need to move your feet on to the left foot a little bit

quicker, use the toe, then you'll have a strong dance. Got that?

Excellent rumba from Ben at the weekend. How is his salsa? He's had

a lot of difficult dances in the last week, and didn't they do well?

APPLAUSE Good boy. I have stopped it here

because this is where he's at his best. He's supporting Kristina

because he's a big guy. He needs to move light across the ballroom.

That's the difficulty for Kristina. She's got to make sure he can do

that but what I would say again, a little bit like Julien, he needs to

make sure he's got lots of body rhythm. Through it... And he's not

too static in the body. Do not try that move at home, OK, unless you're

Kristina. Mark and Evetta, for them a cha-cha-cha. How is he looking?

You know what he's great - he's great in these gesticulations and

the acting side of him comes out. It's fantastic. Hello! I would like

him to concentrate a little bit more on the steps - hello! And make sure

he works on those Cha-cha moves. An amazing outfit and I bet you can't

do that, Ian Waite. I bet I can. Look at that! Great. He's pulled

something! Now - out of my way. So a great night on Saturday for Craig,

at least, who got a smack on the lips from a certain rugby hung. Here

is a reminder of their dance. It's nice to see a big, butch bloke

being gentle. That was a really touchy feeling kind of blow, hands

everywhere. Whichever way you're going, keep going because you're

doing well. I am willing you to do well and dance well. And you know

what? You did. APPLAUSE

7. 7. 7. It's a 7 fest! 7. 7. Yeah! Finally. Yes, finally, a standing

ovation. Thank you so much. Oh, I am so proud of you. Everybody gets a

kiss next week. I was so excited. It was a real buzz. I know.

Please welcome Ben and Kristina. APPLAUSE

It's so exciting, even watching it back. Congratulations, a personal

best, 28. Well done, Ben. A standing ovation. When you were dancing that

out on the floor, did you think to yourself, hang on a minute, this is

quite good? Yeah, I thought they were clapping at somebody else at

first - who is on stage? A flasher or something! No, it was all for

you. Tell you what. They love you out there, the nation. Linda from

Merseyside says, "It's the surprise of the night, fabulous." How lovely.

How proud were you, Kristina? I can't describe how proud I am of him

because it has been such a difficult week. We worked so hard, and it

takes a lot for this big guy to be gentle and show his soft side. He

did. It was absolutely wonderful. It was really moving. It was! Good. At

the same time as being quite saucy. You planted one on Craig. What have

you started? I think he liked it a bit too much. What happened there?

Very spontaneous. I was just so excited. I thought, yeah, I got a

positive comment, great. I thought something horrible was going to come

out, as always, but they were such great words from him. Well done. In

the weeks before that, I'd taken a little bit of criticism about my

frame, the bottom - yeah, just encouragement and positive comments

- really was like, yes, great. We've worked so hard, and to get 7s across

the board was an amazing night. It's progress. It's... . It's good. It's

all in the right direction, definitely. And the rumba can be

such a tricky dance. Men can go out there and look quite awkward doing

it. Why do you think it suited him so much? He did it so well. You know

what? I also thought a lot about the choreography because it has to be

good on him. It has to look good, what he's doing on the floor, and I

just tried so hard to showcase what he can do, and he was partnering me

and leading me from one sort of trick to another and doing his

footwork. I am really proud of him. He really worked hard. I know. And

we have been watching him closely in the training room, and I think that

Sergeant Major Rihanoff may have something to do with him doing so

well. Oh! We get you every week. Take it away. I am here. I am still

here. You're looking at the door. Hands, frame, elbows. He's finding

it physically hard. What are you doing? Crying or something? I am

putting him through a boot camp, my own ballroom one. Up on my feet.

Thank you. I do one good thing, and I'm like, yes! I have done it. Then

I think, oh, no. I have messed up the next bit, then I get this look.

Don't stand there! And I'm thinking, oh, no. Shall I go sit on the

naughty step? LAUGHTER

I can't believe she puts you on the naughty step. So this week, as I...

I had to face the wall outside. Until you could come back. With the

Saulsa, I am imagining there is quite a lot - how is that going,

Ben? Actually, it's a challenging routine. We have a few lifts in this

one. She hasn't been able to have a lift before. I am excited he can do

lots of great lifts so, yeah, I went for it, and it's a bit crazy. You

look like you're actually scaring yourself here - like, what have I

done? I think so. You're going to be flying around. The foundations of

the rumba, are they going to help particularly with the salsa or is it

a whole new set of rules? I think so, definitely, it can help. Here we

are - me upside down, yes. Wow! It will be a surprise on Saturday.

Don't look! You know what? I think he kind of liked this dance because

it's very cheeky. It's fun. He can actually relax and have a bit of an

acting beat as well. I think you're enjoying it. Yes, I am trying to

pull down the barriers a little bit more and trying to get braver and

braver. Go! In the routine this week, so my aim is to go out and

have fun. You are definitely letting go, which is great stuff, especially

at this point. And you've got a 19, 25, 28 - all in the right direction.

Fingers crossed it will be in the right direction this week too. I

think it could be. Ben and Kristina, good luck this weekend!

APPLAUSE Time now to check out Saturday's

ballroom dancers in our second helping, a big double wallop of

Wait's Wednesday Warm-up. Oh, two helpings is what we need.

Ian Waite is back. APPLAUSE

I only have one. OK! Now, let's talk about the ballroom this weekend.

First of all, did you enjoy Dave and Karen's paso doble Saturday? I

absolutely loved it. Can I first of all apologise for saying it was

going to look like John Sergeant. He was much better than that, wasn't

he? He was much better. They'll be so pleased. Much better than

expected. This week another ballroom dance. He's doing, of course, the

waltz. How is it going? For me, he looks a little bit stiff and tilted

in this dance. He needs to drive more on those ones to create the

musicality of waltz. When we used to dance together, Zoe... . I used to

sing sometimes the rhythm. Drove me crazy.

# One, two, three # One, two, three #

One, two, three # One, two, three #

Bye, darling. See you next week. It works though, it did work. It works.

It's getting that into the brain. What you do is transfer the weight

quickly on the one, then drag it out on two, three. Rachel and Pasha

Kovalev are doing the quick step this week. How is she doing? I have

been hard on her feet and legs, but this is a really difficult dance

this week. It's a lot of content Pasha has given her, so she's

struggling to keep up with him at the moment. You could get a

watermelon in between them there! But what I want to show you is you

could probably, actually - if you balance towards each other, you can

probably stay in contact for longer, even on the pivots. You know when

they pivot around it - bend your knees. Dance your body weight

towards you. I am dancing my body weight towards you. This is a

nightmare. Bounce from one to the other. This is lovely. I can do this

all night. We're connected. We're balanced towards each other. Let's

talk about Sophie and Brendan. Let's stays scrie here! No, let's not. You

have always said she has really good footwork. How are her foxtrot feet?

I think this is another great dance for her. I think this will suit her.

She's definitely trying to do that with her feet, if I can show you

here - I have slowed it down, and she's almost doing the right action

with the feet. It's a really difficult one. She's doing a reverse

wave there. On a reverse wave, you sort of go through the tail onto the

heel, so you go through the toe on to the heel. Off he goes again. I

need him on a giant bungy. She goes through the toe and doesn't go to

the heel. Only Wednesday, she'll get. By Saturday, hopefully it will

be as good as her waltz. Yes, go on! Ashley is doing the Viennese waltz.

How is he looking? Karen was mentioning the head and the problems

he had with his head. He has a lovely long neck. It's perfect for

ballroom dancing. I think they have been working on it. Look at this

position here. I am going to zoom in so you can see it better. Look. The

tricks of the trade - look at his head. Look where he's looking. One

is out. He's got this lovely shape. He's creating this lovely shape in

the vase, and he's looking out there, so it's fantastic. He's got a

great position there. He's obviously working on it. Top marks. Come on!

Taylor. Abbey Clancy and Aliona Vilani are doing a - staccato,

drama. How is she doing? For me she's a bit loose in the frame.

She's good at willowy dances like Watts waltz and that it suits her

because she's soft and long and lean, but for this dance she needs

to create a good frame. Tango has to be strong, has to have the

character. That's the only thing. It does move around in that frame a

little bit too much for me. By Saturday she'll have it perfectly.

Artem Chigvintsev and Natalie are doing a quick step. She's do good,

can do no wrong. How is she doing? She can do no wrong, loads of

content in here, very fast, flicking steps like these Charleston steps. I

wanted to show you - look, the body is in the same alignment. She's

flicking her legs up the same as Artem. They're matching.

Gold stars! I think it's going to be a great weekend. Thank you. As

always, here's Mr Wonderful - get it? Give it up for Ian Waite.

APPLAUSE Saturday saw them craft another

beautiful story for our enjoyment. Here is the story of Mark and

Evetta's American smooth. I tell you, you can tell a story. It was

mimed to perfection. You played it beautifully. You really have got to

work on your hands. They are absolutely ruining the line of the

dance. You capture the essence of every dance. I'm not saying that

dancing is, you know, top notch, fantastic, but what I love -

watching you, you get it, and that's great. 6. 6. 7. 8. Fantastic. Praise

God, yes. Woo! Please welcome the gorgeous Mark and Evetta. Well done

yet again, Mr B for Benetton or is it B for Brilliant and Boston! Hey!

I know. I thought about that a long time. They can't get enough of you

online. Katie from Leeds says "Mark's whole personality shines

through when he dances." Did you enjoy it out there Saturday? Yeah,

it was great. I was a bit worried about it because it was totally

different to the salsa obviously, and I was thinking, oh, are people

going to like it? I loved it - trying to do graceful stuff and

maybe surprising people, I don't know. And your wife and son were

watching. Yes, they were. She's killed me since... You again I bet.

After the Austin powers the week before, was it good to do something

a little more serious and show different sides? Yeah, it was

lovely. We tried to do something more serious. You can't do funny

every week because people will think, that's all he does. I wanted

to do the dance properly and be graceful and try to get my hands

properli... Highest score yet, 26. Was it good you could show off Mark

and how good was he at the dance techniques? That was really good.

Yes, it's good to show his acting skills, and in another dance to show

his technique and that he can actually dance, so I think he did an

amazing job. I am really, really proud. The other thing is they all

booed Craig when he was talking about your hands. The audience were

furious, as were people at home. Yeah. When you have danced something

like that and someone gives you criticism like that, is it hard to

take, or do you take it on the chin? Do you know, I don't mind it because

when it's constructive - I am here to learn to dance. When you get

constructive criticism, you think, that's great. I'll take it on. The

dance we're doing this week, I am constantly saying, what am I doing

with my hands here? That's how you learn, isn't it? Because by making

mistakes, that's the only way you can get better I think. Karen was in

yesterday and she said your hands were peck fect! Yeah, Karen, yes! We

don't often get to talk about the prodancers on the show. You were

stunning, flying on the Friday night show. Thank you. Made my ears leak a

little bit! Is it difficult to be graceful when you're up in the air

like that? It is a different feeling because you are hanging on the

harness, and the tendency is to go forward, so you have to resist with

your back to keep the pressure up, and with the cable, you have to feel

it so you don't get like a jerking, but I've done it before a little

bit. I have a chance to perform on Dancing with the Stars, a show where

I did the whole number on the harness, so yeah, so that experience

helped. It It does help a little bit. You looked glorious up there.

Thank you. The thing is when we were looking at you guys in training, we

thought you might have got a bit jealous because she was dancing with

Anton on Saturday, but you needn't fear. She only has eyes for you, and

with your face, it's no surprise. Ladies and gentlemen, Mark and his

stupid array of faces. Yes! Are you looking beautiful?

LAUGHTER That's the best thing of all. I love

it when she says, "Are you looking beautiful" checking up on you. I am

in trouble now. She's seen it. How is the cha-cha-cha shaping up for

you? We're having fun. It's another fun dance. We have a few things in

store. We're really enjoying it. Is there another story? We love the

storytelling you two do? Got a little story in it, got a little

theme running through it, yes. OK. How much would you like to see the

scores go up? The technique is improving. Do you want to see the

scores go up a little bit higher? Yes, every week we want the scores

to get higher. It would be nice. Like I said to you last time I was

on it, it's the comments I really like, and they're the things I try

to listen to and learn from so the scores - yes, we want four 10s. Come

on! Four 10s. How about somewhere in the middle - anything like that.

Enjoy your dance at the weekend. We love the rapport between you two.

Oh, thank you. Mark and Iveta. Enjoy this weekend. That is it for today.

A huge thank you to all my beautiful guests. Tomorrow, Dave and Karen

will be here, Rachel and Pasha and Sophie and Brendan, plus all the

training room stories. We'll see you at 6. 30pm tomorrow night. Good