Episode 48 Strictly - It Takes Two

Welcome to Wednesday's edition. Have I got a show for you tonight? Yes, I

have. It is Patrick and his glamorous passenger. Rocking a

rather nice jumper. She is here to take on her fellow professionals

with a shipload of drunken sailors. As we approach another weekend of

Dantz, Ian is back with his Wednesday warm up. What more could

we ask for? This is steadily come dancing it takes two. -- Strictly

Come Dancing. Live from London, this is Strictly

It Takes Two. Welcome to Wednesday's It Takes Two,

another packed show. Let's get cracking. Turn the heating down

because you will not need it. It will get toasty and here with the

Wednesday warm up. Better already. He is here, Ian

Waite. You are looking gorgeous. I have brought my fan club with me. I

know. It is his mother. What a brilliant weekend. I think one of

the best we have ever seen. Who stood out? I loved it. Abbey Clancy

did really well, but I loved Patrick Robinson. The Charleston was made

for him. I told you earlier on, I said they would get ten out of ten.

Let us look at what people are doing this week. We will start with Sophie

Ellis-Bextor and Brendan Cole, who do a tango this week. The judges

picked up on her neck position during the stunning Viennese waltz.

Are we seeing an improvement on her neck position? It is a struggle to

hold that position for that long. Even the professional dancers have

had the same problem. I have stopped it here because it is almost like

she is doing the opposite. She is actually bringing her head into

stretch that side of the net. That is the problem. Unfortunately she is

doing it the other way. Overcompensating. I think so. She

needs to get it back out that way and keep both sides strong. The

shoulder needs to go down a little bit to keep it more normal. I don't

even know which side it should be. They were doing a salsa, they were

bottom to last weekend. I'll either hips looking? I would like to see a

bit more. What I do love is all those transitions and the arm

movements here, fantastically fast. Fluid, slip, great bands for him. --

break dancing. He needs more action in his hips. I would like to see

this area improved. When he does the Samba, he needs to keep it compact.

He does tend to have long limbs that kind of go out of control. Try and

keep it more compact. Natalie is doing this this week. Are we seeing

enough? This is a totally different story. There is lots of paso doble

in here. And Artem is so great, such a brilliant choreographer. What I

would like to see from her... I would like her to get her arms out a

little bit more. This is her first day of training. We can forgive her

for that, but she needs to make sure she is shaping the body and creating

space. That is where it comes from, shaping the arms. Looking promising.

Susanna and Kevin are doing an Argentine Tango. How is she getting

on with the food work? It is very intricate. Part of this are very

intricate. It is an interesting one because I don't think Kevin has ever

done Argentine tango as far as I know. It is new for him as well. I

have slowed this section down because I want you to see how

intricate this food patronise. There she goes I'll little bit wrong. --

foot pattern is. She kicks the food away, but it is a long chain of

steps. If you don't get it right it can go wrong. -- foot. One step

wrong, fatal. To be honest, it is a little bit like the quick step for

her. She needs to match him perfectly. That is a clue to the

music but I will say no more. Abbey and Aljaz are doing the Viennese

waltz. Her last was stunning and I imagine this will be wonderful. What

did you think of Saturday? I love their Dantz. She did a fantastic

Dantz. The characterisation was great. The red dress was stunning.

For me, the salsa needed a little bit more quality to it. A little bit

more compact. I gave her a nine. I thought it was great. I loved it.

How is the Viennese waltz? Beautiful, stunning. She is in

exactly the right place. I want to show you this bit. I am going to

zoom in because it is so good. Look at her body positioning. We do not

normally see the likes of this because they just cannot get their

bodies in this position. She has a lovely long neck, look at that. It

almost looks like Natalie. She looks fantastic. Well done. Brilliant

shaping, loads of space. Patrick and Anya are doing our room but -- -- a

rumba. How are they looking? Because of Patrick's schedule they have not

had as many hours but they are doing a great job. Can you imagine how

good he would be if he had more hours? As far as this is concerned,

it is very difficult for the man. It is all about exposing the lady. He

is doing nothing but supporting the lady. Doing a brilliant job. I

thought we could try that. Shall we give it a go? What you do is... Step

across the left foot. Then you are going to do this. That is it. What

do you do? Getup. Obviously not like that. Let's talk about the

Swingathon this week. Tell us what they will do. There will be a slight

change. The first 30 seconds will be choreographed. Then it will go into

freestyle. That means they can incorporate jive, rock and roll,

swing, West Coast swing. Then it will be a free for all. I cannot

wait. Last week we caught up with Natalie

Lowe with only ten days to go until the big day. It was time to check in

with them again when they went further . I am really excited about

seeing my costume. It will help us visualise what it will be like on

the day. I am probably a little bit apprehensive but hopefully it will

not be too bad. I'm sure we will have something suitable. I am one of

the cost to managers and today I will be fitting them for their

wedding dance. This is quite an experience. We will be checking that

they look fabulous. This is where the costumes are made. First, we

need to try a few looks. Fantastic. You look amazing in that. I fitted

in her dress. I never thought I would see myself in a sequinned or

sparkly shirt. It was a new experience. It has been a dream come

true trying on the real dresses. She looked almost as happy as she did

when she met Anton du Beke. That is incredible. We have tried the frocks

on, how about trying on your actual dresses? That would be great. I am

not having a dress, am I? Are you ready? Very smart. Does it fit OK?

Really well. I was a bit worried, I did not want too many sequins or

sparkles. I was very happy with what was produced. We will adjust the

trousers. When you wear the proper outfit you look the part, so I think

it will really help with the performance on the night. There you

go. You are stunning already. I think having this design is out of

the world. We will try this option. We decided it would look better with

a bit of sleeve so I was not so exposed at the top and she took the

scissors to the bottom of the dress. Is this what you do on the main

show? Yes, I am often doing this. We go through the same process. It is

often last-minute. Little twirl. Beautiful. No dress is complete

without crystals. It is gorgeous. I have two dresses which is pretty

amazing. I must be one of the luckiest rides out there. -- brides.

Yesterday, we launched the 2013 challenge. It is time to welcome our

third challenger. Please give it up.

Welcome back to the show. How excited are you to be taking part in

the challenge? I am back. Of course because you did not have a chance to

do it last year. In case anyone missed yesterday, here is a reminder

of the challenge. This is a challenge to set a

Guinness world record for the most drunken sailor dance steps in 30

seconds. One challenge, one goal, 30 seconds. I am joined by

choreographer Richard and Guinness world record adjudicator Elizabeth.

The drunken sailor is across step behind, I stepped to the side and

then a replacement of weight to the starting fruit. They need to make

sure they cross behind and replaced the weight. They need to concentrate

on the rhythm because one foot wrong and it could all be over. This

challenge is very physical. They are going to need stamina. Just 30

seconds stands in the way of our professionals. The prize is a world

record. The battle may begin. Thank you. Looking at that, do you have

high hopes for this challenge? I think I should have been

disqualified. You are saying this ahead. Why? I didn't have my heels

on so I did it in flats. You're supposed to kiss the floor with your

heel when you step back. On the first and third step. I did not put

my heels down. Let's find out. The difficulty of this challenge is

to actually do the step fast but also do it properly. I will attempt

to do the best technique I can, the fastest I can. Welcome. Thank you.

Are you ready for this challenge? I am very excited. I going to aim for

technique, try to do the best I can as fast as I can. Good luck. Please

take to the floor. Well done! I noticed you did not put

your heels down. Was that purposeful? I should have wore

heels. You looked comfortable. I thought it was a good attempt. I am

not sure if I am going to get the record but I feel quite good about

my performance. It has been fun. Well done! Was it harder than you

thought it was going to be? I was playing a jive song in my head. That

must have helped. Have you ever tried to do those all in a row

before? Yes, yes. When I would practice. Yesterday, the top of the

leaderboard was 61. Do you think you have beaten it? No. Let's find out.

But that it was watched back by official adjudicators in slow motion

to verify every single one to make sure they were accurate. Now the

moment of truth. Aliona, I can reveal that you scored...

46 with no disqualifications. See! Let's have a look and see where that

puts you on the leaderboard. There we go. TED

-- Aljaz Skorjanec is top of the leaderboard. We will find out how

Brendan gets on tomorrow. Now it is time to catch up with the outfits.

Hi, I am in the workshop where all the magic happens. I am standing

next to the very gorgeous and ever so talented Dickie, who makes us

ladies look absolutely superb on Saturday night. We are here to talk

dresses. First of all, this is going to be the Viennese waltz dress for

Abbey. I have been told it is very traditional and very romantic. Why

are the skirts shorter? What is your inspiration behind that? You are

probably thinking that no one is better for the celebrity ladies

because it would help to cover any mishaps. We have gone for a shorter

length so they feel more comfortable and will not get heels caught. It

has made them feel more comfortable during the performance. The

silhouette has been flattering and the girls have enjoyed them. It does

take the pressure off knowing they will not get a heel caught in the

back of the skirt. Now we will move on to the paso doble dress. I am

jealous that she gets to wear this. They are all looking quite raw

because you are coming to visit us early on in the week. Will you have

more blink through this? These are all crystal applications and the

dress will be covered in gold crystal. That will all be cold

running through into the skirt. Absolutely stunning! I love a big

skirt. I always want more. The more the better. Now, the influence of

Artem 's outfit. He will have some high waisted Latin trousers.

Possibly no top. This is the base of where we will start with the paso

doble jacket. Artem, no top. That does not sound like him. Lots of

gold embellishment but no top. We like that, ladies. Now for the

swing. There were skirts flying everywhere. How do you make everyone

stand out without one being more than another? We have to be fair

when we do this number. A much more generic look throughout the group

number. Everyone will have an individual colour but that is where

it will end. The silhouette will be the same for all. Here we have a

purple and a red belt. You may find we have a blue and a purple with

different under skirts. This is from another frock. There is lots of

frost underneath although this is not the actual skirt. What will the

boys be wearing? The boys, at the moment, we do know. We have not

actually cut them. The shirt colour will either correspond with the

frock or the belt. It is so exciting on Friday to try on your dress. Then

the dress run on the Saturday, which is always very exciting. I am off

and gone by then so you are left to it. Frantically doing last-minute

alterations. I have had a sneak peek at Susannah 's dress. It is

exquisite. I wish I was wearing it. She is doing the Argentine Tango

said the skirt is much shorter. It needs to be a non-stretch fabric so,

if the heel does get caught, it does not stay in it. She will either rip

herself out of it or she will not get caught at all - hopefully. Thank

you for having me here today. I have had an absolute ball. I will throw

back to you, Zoe. See you later. Thank you. On Saturday night there

was a flashing, banging and walloping on the dance floor as we

had the Charleston. Let's see the show stopping performance. That was

full of flash, bank, wallop. It was fantastic! You have won it! Such

difficult timing but that was amazing. You have set the mark so

high tonight. It was extremely fast. That whole routine was spectacular.

Three tens! Please welcome Patrick and Anya. It was also on Saturday

night. Well done to you. The higher score and so well deserved. Did you

know you had a hit on your hands, Patrick? I just went for it. You

did. In the end, it was Chitty Chitty

Bang Bang. It built and built. By the end, we were like that! Three

tens and an eight from Craig. Should it have been four? In my book, you

always get a ten. In the words of your son, you smashed it. It was an

amazing performance. I could not have asked for anything more. I

think it did deserve a full house. The judges were seriously impressed

with the speed of it. Where you worried that Patrick would not be

able to keep up with you? He could not at first but slowly and surely

he got it together, we got it together. It was an extremely

difficult routine. All the lists I put in our believed I would do with

a professional partner. I did not know that. I did not tell him that.

If she told you at the beginning, you would feel defeated. Your

background of musicals, we mentioned it last week, did that all come back

to you? I played Danny in Greece when I was 16, 17. It was just going

back in their hands just rewinding and going there. -- ack in their and

just rewinding. Patrick is a serious and genetic actor. Played the

cheering, man. Get the other plug. I am only watching. Come on! Get out!

Will she stay up there? I wake up early before daylight this morning.

Can we cut? Marvellous, wonderful, smashing. Superb, great! That is

what she has to cope with day after day. It is so good. This week, for

you, it is the romantic rumba. What has the training been like? The

Rumba! I could not. I just could not rumba. Seriously. I could not hold

on to anything. The music was not grabbing me. Let's hear your music.

It is Bruno Mars. The thing is, it is very different in speed to

everything else you have been doing. Sometimes something fast is really

difficult but when you slow things down, it is quite exposing. It is

the control, sustained control. It is like having the strength and

fluidity but without movement. You had to do so much but not very much

at all. To this day, I have two say it is the most challenging week so

far. How is the two being -- how is it going to being in love? It is the

physical I am struggling with a bit. We are trying to develop the

chemistry. It just needs to be a story. It is a love story. You will

get there. I have total confidence. This week, it is the swingathon. You

do a minute and a half and in training you are doing it again and

again. Keeping it going is the tricky thing, sustaining it. Have

you got any tricks planned? Just a tad. We try to have fun. I got it

from him. They are his words. We are going to have fun. I want to bring

the energy of it. Definitely a couple of tricks, some swing and

some jive. It would be good. What I am seeing, Patrick, it is looking

good. Have faith! Good luck for this weekend. Then you are in the

semifinal. That is it for today. A big thank you to all our guests. We

will chat to the director of choreography and have all