Episode 43 Strictly - It Takes Two

. Hello. Welcome to a bumper Bye bye. Bye bye.

. Hello. Welcome to a bumper Wednesday edition of

. Hello. Welcome to a bumper their paso doble was no slip up.

Abbey their paso doble was no slip up.

wedding dance, thatly low is back with --

wedding dance, thatly low is back As we look forward to Saturday's

musical spectacular, As we look forward to Saturday's

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

welcome your host Zoe Ball. Hello and welcome to Wednesday's It

Takes Two. Little bit excited. This week, our couples are bringing some

Broadway to the ballroom, as they dance to classic songs from

musicals. Abbey and Aljaz are tackling a salsa. Here's a recap of

Saturday's brilliant paso doble. Little bit cuty, but I loved the --

cutesy, but I loved the dance. I would liked a harder, stronger woman

from you. You did create one very nice shapes. On occasion, you just

lost a bit of control. I enjoyed the dance. I would have liked to have

seen it a little bit cleaner. Some of the things you did tonight were

incredibly beautiful. You have achieved a lot in this competition.

Eight. Eight. Eight. Eight. You've got a scratch on your face. Did I do

that? Of course I do, war wound. Everyone is getting better and

better. The standard is higher and higher. So we're going to be higher

and higher. Please welcome Abbey and Aljaz! Clap

clap -- APPLAUSE

You guys looks so drop-dead gorgeous on Saturday night. When you walked

down the stairs, like that, oh, my goodness me. Another great

performance... Four hours in make up. How was your paso doble, did you

enjoy it? I loved it. I enjoyed learning that dance. Great song,

costume, great, just unfortunate that I slipped a few times during

the performance. Yeah, we'll get to that. We will talk about the slippy

business. Darcey said very intricate and very difficult choreography that

you gave her, Aljaz. Was that a conscious every, she can do this,

I'm going to make it tricky? Every week that goes by, I'm trying to do

it harder and harder, so it gets more difficult, more steps, more

lines, more looks, you know, so she has a lot more every single week.

Paso was no different really. Is it terrifying when he first shows you

the routine at the beginning of the week - you think, I can't possibly

do that? Every week we have the same conversation. "I can't do that! I'm

not doing that." Look what happens by the end of the week. They know

what you're capable. Let's talk about the -- what you're capable of.

Let's talk about the slipping. I don't know. I had new shoes on, not

the ones I trained in all week. I did that in cha cha as well, funny

enough. That's why! Is it good to wear the shoes in. They're a funny

design. They're like a suede soul -- sole. The audience don't know what

steps you're doing, I think part of doing a dance well is being able to

recover if you make a mistake. It jufrt threw me a little bit. I was

disappointed because I loved it. He worked so hard again with me. You

say that, I didn't notice the slip at all. I was completely enraptured.

Allison from Lancashire says, "I thought the judges were really harsh

on Abbey. She was undermarked. Quite a few people said that." What due

think of that? I don't know. I always agree with the judges'

scores. Obviously, it wasn't perfect. So there was a little slip.

I think that from my point of view, whatever I gave to Abbey, she

delivered. So I'm happy, no matter what the scores are. If I feel like

she gave her 100% and she really did, so I have, it's not up to me if

I like or don't like the scores. I definitely agree with them. But I

think she did her absolute best. The thing is, 32 is not a bad score.

That's still four 8s. But for you guys, because you have been

brilliant, it's a dip. Is that disappointing or are you just moving

on? I'm moving on. Itch tend to focus -- I tend to focus more on the

comments than the score and take the comments on board and try to apply

it to next week. The judges have to be tougher. The competition is

heating up. It's getting less and less people each week. They have to

be more picky. They can't let certain things slide now, as they

may have done in the earlier weeks. Ben said when he was here on Monday

that he could really feel that suddenly, it's like, hey, this is a

dance competition. Do you feel the atmosphere is changing? No, I don't.

You're having a right laugh. I'm having an absolute ball. Everyone is

genuinely routeing for each -- rooting for each other back stage.

It's not a lie, it's so true. I think how I'm taking it is trying to

do my best and have fun. You're doing. We're loving every minute of

it. The paso doble is dramatic. You might have struggled with the draum

why in training. Abbey is struggling a little bit

getting into the character. I just can't take it seriously, like

the dances and coming over to him like this. It just makes me crack

up. It's very serious. But I'm in the a serious person, am I?

Three and four... I think I'm going mad in here today. I don't know

what's wrong with me. I'm doing my own head in today. Don't laugh. OK.

You're laughing the whole way through. I don't know what's wrong

with me. It is that thing, the minute anyone

says don't laugh, it's like being in school. I can't stop laughing. I'm

getting into so much trouble. But you go out on the floor and pull it

all together. This week it's salsa. How is it going? Definitely a love

of laughing. Yeah, it's very soft, a lot of rhythm, a lot of hip action,

and she's doing good. We're doing a very aislistically disco --

aislistically -- stylistically danced salsa. You are dancing to a

tune from Saturday Night Fever. Women you be doing some disco

influence elements in there or keeping it firmly salsa, do they mix

any way? Definitely going to be a lot of disco, a lot of hard salsa.

It's hard. Noted. I can imagine. Yeah, it's such a strong character

that song has so I have to put some disco in. Yeah, she loves the disco

actually. Have you seen the film? Yeah. I have seen the film. We've

been watchinclips on YouTube. I think John Travolta has better moves

than you. Are you wearing the full 70s garb? I

hope so. I hope so. You might be wearing the suit. Oh, my goodness

me. I have to hold onto the sofa. Lifts as well. I love in the film

there the koala lift. Then they turn out so brilliantly. I heard there

are lifts you're nervous about this week? Yeah because I'm so high in

the air and he spins me around so fast. I'm just screaming the whole

way through. He's like "don't scream! ". It's like a white-knuckle

ride. Good luck this weekend. Abbey and Aljaz!

APPLAUSE I love your trousers by the way. Now

time for another ballroom ballad. You might already have your own

ideas, but tonight let's find out who eats the most and who is always

glued to their phone. The dancer who eats the most,

without doubt, is Robin Windsor. He's always got a bag of sweets or

chocolate with him. He never stops. Robin. Robin brings lunch bags and I

mean bags, like big bags with sandwiches, and things to nibble on.

This man like a Hoover, he eats everything he sees. He must have a

grazing thing going on. Every time I turn around, he's scoffing

something. That would be me. Who is addicted to their phone? Kristina

looking at messages and stuff, and Pasha always playing on games.

Pasha. He's always playing games. Probably not for the cause. Pasha

with his games. I think it's addiction, or lack of attention. I

don't know. Kristina. Kristina. What was the question? All of them. I

don't know how they do any steps. It's all about the phone, thank you

very much. Pasha love a game. Game mad Pasha. Kristina, loves her

phone. All of them, phone mad. The number you have dialled has been

changed. So forget Audley Harrison, and

Michael Vaughn this year Natalie Lowe has faced her biggest

challenge, teaching a soon to be married couple the ultimate wedding

dance. Here is Natalie and the lucky couple themselves, Mel and Gordon!

APPLAUSE It's so lovely to have you here.

Welcome back Nat as well. So excited about your coming in. When is the

big day? Two weeks Friday. That is 16 sleeps. Are you ticking off the

days. You seem incredibly calm this soon before the wedding. How excited

are your friends and family about the dance, never mind the wedding?

The wedding is just secondary for everybody I think. The dance is all

anybody talks to us about now. Yeah, they are beyond excited. It's mad.

We are too. Natalie, you've not been able to do the series because of

your foot. Bless you. How much has working with Mel and Gordon meant to

you? Having these guys this year has been a God send. I'm in the a part

of the main show, to still be a part of the family somehow has just been

a blessing. You guys have genuinely been the most loveliest, hard

working people that I really ever worked with before. Impressive

skills as well. I'm very grateful. It's a love-in today. They're a

dream to work with. We all know how all encompassing organising a

wedding is. How easy is it, on top of that, to have dance classes?

We've had 18 months to plan the wedding. We had a lot of it in place

before then. In a weird way, it's helped having this to distract us

from - because you can focus on the nitty gritty. Napkins, who cares?

Who's on their table? ! We have something exciting to look at now.

Natalie has been hotting up the training and this week she unleashed

a secret weapon. I have an amazing surprise in store.

Mel will be slightly beside herself. I really feel that it's going to

help Gordon with his posture and giving him loads of tips. Ises a

win-win situation. I need you to put these on. That's not at all weird. A

little surprise in store. Anything you say. I think you're really going

to enjoy it. What are they doing to us now? I have no idea what's about

to happen. I know. Hello, Mel. As soon as I heard the

voice, I knew it was him. Mel, don't be nervous. Hello Mel! I think I

might have seen Mel for the last time. It's safe to say that I'm

quite a big fab of -- fan of Anton. I don't think there are many people

who have a picture of him above their bed. She's never going to let

him go. When you've loved someone for so long and then you final lip

get to meet him, you think, oh, gosh. I'll take my ring off. Take it

off quick. Don't you dare. Shall we try this to music. It was priceless.

That was a bit awkward. You held on quite a long time. Mel just said, he

smelled really lovely. Being the superfan that you are has meeting

Anton added to the wedding jitters? Well, he didn't ask me to run away

with him, so I'm still here. I may as well go through with the wedding

now. Gordon was already nervous about Mel meeting Anton, how would

you feel about them dancing together?

Shoulders down, we're not here. Pretend I'm not here. You have to

look at me. Keep going, nice and long. It doesn't feel like we've

just met Anton and he's just come in and taught us how to dance. It is

choreography, it is of course, because it's steps to timing. But at

that moment you're just rocking. At that moment we want to see a moment

together. That was nice! Anton was great with us. He was so

enthusiastic. I think they're doing tremendously well. This is two

people who are just learning to dance for the first time, dancing

together - that's so difficult! They're pulling it off and it's

really lovely. One, two, three. One, two, three. The biggest thing I

learned how the man in the dance to carry yourself properly. You know

all the timing and stuff, but you have to lead her. The more you lead

her when she knows it, the more you dance together. To watch him and see

how he moves made me focus more on what I need to do. It's been such

ape blessing having Anton here. There's a massive shift in their

performance, their energy. They're not thinking so much about their

steps. They're starting to learn to perform. I would say that tonight is

a dream come true. Can it happen again next week? Please?

Thank you so much Anton for helping out. Mel is saying I was right in

there. She didn't hold back. The choreography is down, now it's the

finesse. How are the final touches coming together? Natalie is pushing

us to make it look as professional as possible. That's quite

challenging. Learning the basic steps is OK. That's one thing. But

making it look like a professional dance, that's quite hard. But she's

doing an amazing job. We're confident. Now you have been through

the process, does it make you appreciate how hard the celebrities

work and they do a dance a week. I know. You see them on the show and

see their dance and think that's amazing. But until you do it

yourself and realise what goes into just 20 seconds and it's not just

the steps, it's the head, arms, everything, a new appreciation for

it. Is there a competition between you two about who is the best

dancer? Were competitive at the beginning. We are still a little

bit. Neither of us likes to lose to the other one. We both want to do

really well on the day. You are gorgeous. We've seen you get quite

emotional in the classes. How emotional are you going to be on the

big day. Stop it! I can't begin to imagine. I will be welling up the

whole time. To be part of your special day and in such a special

way as well, to be able to teach you... As long as she's crying for

the right reasons! Thank you so much for letting us follow you a bit too

closely through this whole process. Good luck for the big day. We'll be

able to see it on the telly soon. Give it up for Mel, Gordon and

Natalie! So soon Ian will be here with his

Wednesday Warm-Up. First, we asked the professional dancers to pick

their own favourite performance from this year's series. First Karen

hour. -- Karen Hauer. One of the stand-out

dances for me for this series is Patrick and Anya's American smooth.

It was just spectacular and a real joy to watch. At the beginning of

the routine Patrick does a little gesture that almost seemed like he

was keeping a little secret. And they just burst into this first

lift. Really, it takes you by surprise. It took me by surprise.

Then they go into a regular foxtrot. It's very graceful, very busiful.

Then, they strike again. It's really exciting. It's almost like a little

bit of a heart attack that they give you. I love how Anya put the

choreography into it, the long flowing, continuous movement across

the floor. It's very detailed as well, from the fingertips to where

they're looking to the shoulders, so everything was very precise and very

well choreographed. I loved the dance break when they were on the

stairs. It almost felt like they were having so much fun that they

just couldn't help it, but dance on the stairs as well. You know, they

used the whole stage. One of the things about Patrick is that his

upper body is very strong. Anya is flying all over the place and it was

great to see this maeg lift at the -- amazing lift at the end and all

of a sudden you see it go wrong. It was just one of the best dances, you

just happened at the end, you messed up... They both fought through that

little mistake and made it till the end. They weren't going to let

anything rain on their parade. Even though there was a slight fluf at

the end of that lift, it didn't matter for me at all. It was such an

impressive American smooth. It gave me goose bumps. It was one of those

that I felt their energy and I felt their partnership. It didn't feel

like I was watching teacher and student. It felt like I was watching

a glamorous Hollywood dance couple. It was just beautiful to watch.

Thank you Karen. Here with a peak at what delights are still to come,

it's Mr Ian Waite. -- peek.

APPLAUSE Is that a running man? Yeah, if you

had done your feet with it. Are you doing the Christmas special. I am!

So exciting. Who are you going to be dancing with? I'm very excited. I

shall be dancing with a young, gorgeous girl, roshel from the

Saturdays. -- Rochelle. Have you met Marvin yet? No, I haven't. I'm

looking forward to that. Good luck with that. Ive know you have lots of

training coming up. Musicals week this weekend. Are you as excited as

I am? Our life's a musical, come on. I love it. I know. So exciting.

Right, let's see who are we looking at first? First of all, unleash the

wand. I I love it when he does that. Natalie and Artem are doing an

American smooth to I'm Telling You I'm Not Going from Dreamgirls. What

can you tell me about it? What I can tell you is looking absolutely

gorgeous. Its very lyrical, lots of very fluid movements. At the moment,

everything is solo, I'm presuming because it lends itself in the

music. I know Artem likes to choreograph to the music. I will say

that American smooth there is an American in hold. -- there is an

element in hold. I'm assuming more is coming later. I didn't really

know which dance they were doing at that point, whether it was a waltz,

foxtrot or whatever. But this next step might tell you.

Any offers? Foxtrot! It's a classical foxtrot American smooth. I

think it's going to be stunning. Patrick and Anya are doing the

charleston to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Love it! No child catcher in

sight. Now, this could be an amazing charleston. What's he looking like?

Do you know what, he is looking absolutely brilliant. I think this

really is the dance for him. It really suits his expressions. He was

great in the quickstep. And you don't have to have hold in

charleston which is perfect for him. I wanted to show you how even in

this character step, I know it's a silly step. Does it have a name? I

suppose... Silly walking. They're absolutely matching. His arms and

everything, they're all in the right position. For me, this week, I think

he could get some 10s. I don't want to put my neck out there. But I

really do think so. Fingers crossed. Sophie and Brendan, they're doing

ballroom this week. They're doing a Viennese waltz, My Favourite Things

from Sound of Music. It's too exciting. Tell me about their

training. As you know, Viennese waltz is a very difficult dance.

He's put so much Viennese in here. Lots and lots of content, which is

brilliant. What I love about Sophie is she's actually a very, very good

position on him. I've stopped it here. They have right front to right

front hold, her head is lovely and out. Very good, look at Brendan's

position as well, A 1 - whatever that is.

Gold star. Yes, I wanted to show the feet. Sometimes she closes her feet

and when she does she skips. She has to make sure she flattens that out.

You hear the judges say it was skippy. Ashley and Ola are doing a

rumba. Is Ola helping to control his head movement or does that not

matter so much in the rumba? You don't need to do so many pave ots

and stuff like that. -- pivots. I is a strong dance for him. I've stopped

it here. I wanted to show basically, I wanted to show his arms and his

strength in his legs. That's the wrong way. I wanted you to see the

strength in the lines that he's making. He's making some fantastic

lines. What I love, well, we didn't say actually what they're dancing

to. This might give you a clue. Is it book of Mormon? No. OK. From

rent? Aladdin? Yes. A Whole New World. Susanna and Kevin are doing a

quickstep. Another fast dance for them. Is it looking spectacular?

Yeah, it's looking good. Again, Kevin's really pushing Susanna. He's

giving her so much content, so much foot pattern work. It's quite scary,

in actual fact. What that does is it brings another challenge for her.

It's a little bit two sided because the top half she's doing really

well, she has a really nice line, but the bottom half, again,

sometimes she goes out of sync with Kevin because of the fast patterns.

She needs to tighten that up. The will do by the weekend. And I have

something to give awe I I you what they're dancing -- give you a clue

what they're dancing to. Mary Poppins? No. It's Good Morning from

Singin' In The Rain. Mark and Iveta are dog a samba. How is his bounce

looking? Samba is all about the bounce. Yeah, unfortunately there's

no bounce yet. Whether they've worked on that, Iveta is dog it. So

for me, this is going to be a difficult dance for him. He needs to

put in, samba is all about the bounce. I thought we could show you

a bit of that. I can try. The bounce comes from the knees. What that does

is it affects the hips. One and two, three and four. The tilting of the

hips affects the body. We do whisk. One and two, three and a four. Five

and six. I'm in the zone. Now, graphics. Is it Lion King? Yes! He's

dancing to I Just Can't Wait To be King. Abbey and Aljaz are doing a

salsa. Hot dance. She's in a coat. Yes, sometimes it's cold in those

studios. For me, there are elements of disco in there, which is

fabulous. For me, the problem again, another spotlight on the feet, she

needs to get those feet stronger, ankles stronger, because they look

weak sometimes. This dance is exposing, as we know. She needs to

keep the rhythm in the body and strengthen the feet. All looking so

good. It could be a week to beat all weeks. If you'd like to dance us out

Mr Ian Waite, I'll read this link. That's it for today, a big thank you

to all my guests. Tomorrow, Natalie and Artem and Sophie and Brendan

will be on the sofa along with the divine Miss Darcey Bussell. And a

sneak peek at the amazing costumes for musicals weeks. See you at 6.

30pm. Good night.