Episode 24 Strictly - It Takes Two

Welcome to It Takes Two. It is Hallowe'en. It is Thursday. We have

all the training updates for you. Plus, I will hear all about Susanna

and Kevin's upcoming charleston. I will find out who rumba tricks we

will be treated to on Saturday. Our lovely Darcy Bussell is here.

She will talk blood-curdling comments and Christopher Gill will

give us a pre-- and Vicky Gill will give us a preview of what will be

worn on Saturday night. This is Strictly - It Takes Two.

Live, from London, this is Strictly It Takes Two.

Please welcome your host, Zoe Ball. Happy Hallowe'en! Hello! Welcome to

It Takes Two. Exciting - the witching hour is almost upon us as

our celebrities prepare themselves for Saturday. In a moment I will

talk to Susanna and Kevin. Before that, let's look at how our

celebrities are getting on in training. Be afraid... Be very

afraid! We're dancing the charleston. Knees

up! Quite fast. There's lots of

footwork. She has a lovely technique. The heel swivels are

superb. It is telling a story through mime and personality.

I'm really loving the dance. The charleston is such fun. It is really

kind of cute. It has a lot of personality. And then one, two...

Wrong-foot! Sorry! My problem is performing in front of an audience.

I can do the dance perfectly if nobody is watching, which defeats

the object of the exercise if you are on Strictly Come Dancing. This

week I am dancing a tango sismt a passionate dance. It is very strong.

The acting and performance side should be good, so long as I get my

posture right. You have to learn to turn without doing this. You have to

work on the posture to make sure that all the way through Ashley's

got a lovely posture. Give me a nice frame. Look at your arms! My biggest

concern with the dances seems to be my arms and head. Trying to get my

steps... But yes. Don't care, give me the frame. Has to be leading the

lady around the floor. That is what I need Ashley to do. We have got to

the dance that I so hoped I would be able to do on Strictly - the

charleston. It is always such an amazing dance to watch. It is a very

fun and cheeky and playful dance. We will be doing some lifts in this

charleston. Of course Darcy says just trust in your man. I think she

does trust me! She says she trusts me! I am going to make sure she

struss me! Clearly what I have to do is change the look on my face. It

can be a show-stopper, but there is a lot that can go wrong. I am

excited about the charleston, but I am also a little scared of it. It is

Susanna and Kevin. Happy Hallowe'en to the two of you.

I didn't want to make a fuss. I didn't want to go too over-the-top.

It is like sitting with an x-ray. You can see my heart! Your American

smooth was amazing last week. Back up into the 30s, in the leaderboard.

Did it feel like a goody when you first rehearsed it? Did it feel good

on the first three days of rehearsal? Not at all - not for the

first three or four days of rehearsal. Right down to the wire.

That is why I call her the magician. She pulls it out on a Saturday

night! How fearful are you at times that it may not come out of the bag?

Constantly fearful. Hallowe'en is 24/7 for me!

You should see the look on his face when I forget the steps and it is

late on in rehearsal and he gets this look of... You are going to get

it right on Saturday, aren't you? Caig kept it -- Craig kept it short

and sweet - gorgeous. Did that make you feel googy inside? It could have

been the medication. We'll take it! I couldn't believe my ears. Hearing

Craig say, "Gorgeous" Only Abbey and Natalie are ahead of you. That must

be reassuring to be up there in the heady heights? Abbey and Natalie,

beautiful dancers. It is a real privilege. So nice to watch, isn't

it? I really enjoyed it. After a great performance on Saturday night,

when you go into the training room on a Monday morning, are you still

in high spirits, still on a high or do you go, oh, here we go again?

Monday is awful. Actually Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and a bit of

Thursday is really stressful. I mean, we have, don't get me wrong, a

lot of fun, but the dance doesn't take shape until sort of Thursday

afternoon. Monday we literally have 45 minutes. So Kevin comes in.

Sometimes it has to be said, not in the best of moods!

It sounds like Hallowe'en did come early to your training room. There

seems to be another reason why though. It is the scare of doom and

it goes like. -- stair of doom and it goes like.

Beware of the stare! Is it unnevering the way I stare --

unnerving the way I stare at you. It gets everywhere. Watch out, it's

coming for you! Staring, literally staring at you!

No-one is safe, because it 's contagious.

Isn't that brilliant? In fact, don't look at me - I am looking away. This

week it is the charleston. Susanna Reid, are you loving it? I am loving

it. It has fantastic spirit, personality and character and it is

just terrific. Things can go terribly wrong. There is something

frightening about it as well. Don't talk about it. Did you ever think

you might be dancing to Creedance Clearwater Revival on the telly?

Does this make your palms sweat a little bit? No. I love it. How will

you bring a terrifying element into a charleston? It is an upbeat dance.

I will dress up as something scary. I have been growing my facial hair

in preparation. Is it Teen Wolf? Feel how thick and hairy it is! You

might need a little help on Saturday with it. Good luck to both of you.

Susanna and Kevin. APPLAUSE

Back to the training rooms now to see some more ghostly goings on.

This week Patrick and I were dancing quickstep.

Quickstep has lots of quick Steps. There are lots of feet going back,

right, forwards. If you don't get the sequence right you need shin

pads. He's struggling to pick up the pace. I am shattered. This is the

first time that an ya has said it is quick.

To be honest with you, it is quite full. I want us back on the top of

the leaderboard. I am really excited this week. I am

doing a jive. This dance routine will be strenuous. There's no two

ways around it. To make it look good you are working everything all the

time. It is high-energy. There's no respite. There are lots of steps in

a jive. It is fast. There's not much time to think.

The fact we're doing it in Hallowe'en week can put your own

spin on it. It is not your standard pump jive. We can be different. We

can bring our characters out. We're dancing the paso doble. The

paso doble - the mat dor - the bullfight. It is the cape. It takes

me a bit of getting used to. There'll be drama, lots of stamping

feet and drama. We need to make sure he does some acting on the floor.

It's more of a like - and that will be my biggest challenge. Every dance

is a massive challenge to me. Spot me. Five, six, seven, eight. We put

the time in during rehearsals and do it with conviction. Hopefully that

will be OK! There we are. That looks good. My

next guest brings elegance, beauty and grace to the judging panel. A

round of applause, it's Darcy Bussell.

Hey foxy lady. And she's made an effort for Hallowe'en. A lovely

mask. There you are! Welcome back to It Takes Two. Lovely to be here.

Your second year on the judging panel. You have settled in now. Do

you feel confident? I am really enjoying it. The nerves are always

there with me. I like a bit of nerves actually because it keeps me

on my toes. The boys are gorgeous to me. You look like you are having a

laugh up there as well. That is important to me. I have to have a

laugh. I don't want to make it too seriously. Last week a bit of a

dance-off shocker. Deborah and Patrick, obviously in the bottom

two. Did they deserve to be in the bottom two? Were you shocked like

everybody else? It is horrible. It is always difficult when they are in

the middle. Their scoring was getting better. They were getting

better. People forget to vote for them, they are like, they are doing

fine. And then they were in the danceoff. I wish we had Deborah. I

loved her. She was everything that the show was about. She loved every

moment of it and enjoyed learning the craft. I love her husband has

been secretly learning to dance as well. That is so cute. Does the

dance-off make a difference? It is about the dance-off and how they

actually pull it off at that moment because if they do make a mistake

you cannot hold them, can't keep them. I do fall in love with people

and you know how much work they put into it, but it comes down to that

last dance. They were on equal par as well. So quick quickly sometimes.

Natalie and Artem, they have been given nine for the last few weeks.

What do they need to do to get the elusive ten? She's stunning and has

so much. Her concentration, she's trying to perfect the technique to

such a technique I have not seen her let go and actually fall in love

with a dance yet, which is interesting. I think she wants to

get it all right for Artem. It is like he has a little voice on her

shoulder going, get this right. You can see her ticking. Her

concentration. I want her to be free. Let go. Just be a little wild,

maybe. Take some risks. You may regret saying that. I love how you

give constructive criticism. It is really good for the dancers. Who is

really -- who has really listened to you? A lot have taken on so much. I

am always actually surprised. I think Ashley has taken on so much

because he has, there was a lot of little, kind of little habits he

had. You know, you can see the next week he's gone oh, my neck. I've got

a neck and I've got shoulders. I need to lift my eye Level Up. So

many have taken in so much. They have so much to think about and just

remembering the steps that your little corrections. They listen to

them. Have you got a funniest performance so far in this series,

one that has made you laugh with joy? Well, I coo Ied with joy over

-- well I cried with joy over Dave's first cha-cha-cha. It was a classic.

It was like he was held in the studio for too long and he was let

out like an animal. He was dying to get on the dance floor and show his

moves, which were a bit scary. Is it fair he's still in the competition?

I think everybody there is there We are going to be dancing the jive.

The jive is one of those dances I have been dreading. There is a lot

of knee, isn't there? I have spent 35 years crouched over a motorcycle

in the rain. Dave is actually doing OK in the

jive. He 's got the routine. Excellent! He's got a little bit of

a bounce. He cannot point his feet just yet. It is just from here!

That's it! I do the best with the balls of my

feet I is funny. It is lively. It is an aerobics lesson. It will be bril!

The Vienneses waltz is coming a along well. Back to dizziness on

some of the steps. There are details like arms and some stuff with the

shirt happening. It is another thing to think about. Obviously moving

your arm through a count, you have to grab it and still make your arm

look pretty. It is very accented in a Viennese waltz. I need to make

more light and shade of the song. That's it! Yes! It is challenging to

get all of the details right. We still have a few days to rehearse.

She has been busy making Saturday's outfits. She's taken time out to see

us to give us some secrets, welcome back costume designer Vicky Gill.

You got some proper whaos in the house tonight. Can it be hell? It

can be hell. At the end of it, when we get to the end of the show, we

go, it wasn't so bad, was it? Was it any more busy than other weeks?

People go to town on Hallowe'en? It is bigger. It is co-lab rayive from

Lisa with the hair. It is everybody pulling together. Because the look

goes all the way up. Lisa is head of make-up and she is amazing. Walk

with me this way. I made a squeak. It was my shoe, not anything else!

This is Ola's tango dress. There is a petrified forest theme or

something like that. How did it influence her dress? Traditionally

it is red. This week, being Hallowe'en, we have a lot of that

going on. I choose another strong colour, being sapphire blue, so we

have some strength through the tango. A blue and green combination.

Blue and green should never be seen. They are often super stishous. Look

at the length! Brilliant. When she spins around it

does all this stuff. Similar to Abbey's in terms of volume. This is

a similar sort of shape. We will walk this week. Let's walk this

week, like this! Susanna is doing a charleston. Kevin

gave away there may be a werewolf thing. Susanna gets to wear this. .

She has to make sure she creates the werewolf - Lisa. He's doing his

best, isn't he! A classic charleston dress, what would that be? For this,

for Strictly, in Strictly world. Often the routines are a mix of

choreography. We have to deal with lots of movements, whether they are

over shoulders, round and about. They do go all over the place. We

have a fitted body under, so that we keep everything where it should be.

And then the fringe detail gives that charleston vibe and movement.

When she moves we get all this crystal detail. Back to the ironing

board we go. Let's talk about Iveta. Here and Mark are doing a paso

doble. She is dressed as an alien, of course!

She has a cat suit, hasn't she? I don't know what it is, if I am

honest. We had to create an alien. You don't know what it is. What is

an alien - none of us have ever seen them!

A beautiful one, that is for sure. Blues and greens again. It is over a

nude base, so a lot of crystals. The interesting thing for this one is

she's doing paso doble. We have inserted a wing into her right arm.

That is her cape, I guess. We have another drape on her bum if she

needs more capage. How does Mark fit into the alien scenario? He is the

star ship trooper. He is a spaceman. Ground control to major wrong - I

love it! Tell me your thinking behind this

one. They are Mr And Mr Scarecrow. Of course! We have taken a standard

Strictly dress and tried to dumben it down a bit. We cannot do that for

Fiona, because she is super glam. And it is Strictly. On Saturday

night it will be sparkling. And some frayed edges. How about Anton? Very

daper, but frayed at the edges. Like a lot of us - around the edges!

Can't wait until Saturday. I think it possibly will be your best work.

Vicky Gill, everybody! That is what they will wear. How

will they dance? Back to the training room to see the last of our

devilish dances. We are doing the paso doble and I am

very good at it. It is about attitude, stamping your feet and

being this macho stan yard. I am really good at the start of the

dance. I am pretty good at the end. A bit between - not so good at the

moment. Sorry! But you know, we'll get there. Now

you go side ways. The timing and steps, the speed of it, it's a

challenge. That is ridiculously fast! I think at the moment probably

everything needs work. I just hope people and judges will love it.

This week we are dancing a rumba. I am loving the rumba.

I thought you were going to drop me then! It is the fast ones that freak

me out. You need to make sure that every single step, it is done to its

full potential. It is a tricky dance. There are lots of moves in

it. I am trying to get the basics in. Hopefully it will evolve.

Sorry! I think the biggest obstacle for us is her long legs and arms.

Because it is so slow, I think it is easier to pick up on mistakes

because it takes longer to do each step, so you have to make sure you

do it right. They were the dear darlings of the

night on Saturday - a spine-tingling fot trot.

-- foxtrot. You clever things. How did you feel

before the dance Before you went out to do it? As usual, absolutely

terrified, quaking. Aljaz trying to calm me down. What do you do - do

you do, do breathing. He does a of weird ear thing. Does it work? No.

At least he tries! Someone said you had a bad dress run. Can that affect

your performance? It definitely does. Because the dress-run was not

as good, she puts more effort in during the life show.

I got a fright. You caused a bit of aive between Craig and Len. Craig

said about your line and your foot - was he right? Did you know what he

was talking about? I don't know about the foot thing he was talking

about. I agree about my head. It should have been more out. I like to

hear Craig's criticism because it gives me something to work on in the

training room on Monday. He is pleased with you. He is like, yes,

she's taken it on board. The judges were impressed with your ability to

tell a story, with I is wonderful. Is that important to you? Was that

important on Saturday night? It is important to Aljaz, therefore it is

important to me. Wow! Another point for Clancey. You

impressed the judges and you have impressed us. Can you imagine our

delight when we witnessed this. Thank you it takes with two. Really!

You have a better bum than me. Look at your legs. I don't know if I like

you in them because it is freaking me out a bit!

At least your make my legs look thinner! Look at you It's not funny

and three, four. It is helping me. Honestly, keep

them on, I wear! I can see your legs.

I I don't think any man can pull off gold leggings. Oh, come on! You had

such a good hashtag. You are doing a rumba this week to Shakespeare's

Sister. # Stay with me

# Will it be haunting? Hopefully in a

good way. It is a romantic dance, I would say. It is our last chance to

dance together and she gives her life to save me. I thought you were

going to say she gives her life for dance. I hope it is not an O men.

How are you finding the character of the rumba? You say it is slow and I

imagine you two will be good at this. It is good it is in Hallowe'en

week. Instead of being sexy with it, you can be eerie with it. A bit more

comfortable with. That it is a great song and he's made another,

choreographed another amazing dance. They are all genouses, aren't they?

They are all. Five under your belt - is it less terrifying as the weeks

go on? Do you want me to lie or tell the truth? No, it doesn't get any

easier. Do you still get terrified on Saturday night? Definitely. I

think it is good. You need to be excited and nervous because when you

take it too easy, it is never good, really. You need the nevers. It

drives you onned -- nerves, it drives s on.

Have you seen your outfit? It is white. Give it up please! Join me

tomorrow at 6. 30. I will chat to Rachel, Pasha, Artem. And another

panel, tomorrow Michael Ball, Donna Air and Jamie Theakston. Don't have

nightmares.