Episode 51 Strictly - It Takes Two

Hello and welcome to It Takes Two. It is Monday. I am starting your

week with a challenge. The judges bid them farewell on Sunday night.

We are not ready to let them go - don't go - it is Ashley and Ola. I

cannot bear it! He is about to find out how he did with his drunk

sailors - it is Pasha. We have missed him. What lurks around the

corner? A special treat here to talk us through the action - it is the

Italian stallion, Bruno Tonioli. Yes, please - this is Strictly - It

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

It Takes Two. Please welcome your host, Zoe Ball.

Hello. It is me. Welcome to It Takes Two. This weekend gave us swirling,

and swinging as our couples took on not only one dance, but the

swingathon. In case you missed any, here are the Strictly headlines.

Good evening. Here is the news. Thank you! Whilst Craig was feeling

the love somewhat on Saturday night, he was in such a good mood, head

judge, Len, was feeling feisty and did not mince his words!

You were like ger ma -- germafobes. Too much fafing about at the

beginning. I would not lie to you. You have got to love your game in --

up your game in this swingathon, girl, because for me you are in

jeopardy thaft dance. Check this out!

Well, I like the fact you attempted to get some light and shade in

there. Occasionally I found it too intense. I thought it had light and

shade. I said it had... I said it had wonderful light and shade...

Prick up your ears, son! Oh, Len - that was terrible!

Finally, the return of the brilliant swingathon on Saturday night left

some of our celebrities wanting to stwing for the judges, frankly --

swing for the judges, frankly. Will Ashley and Ola please leave the

floor. What? What? Will Sophie and Brendan please leave the floor? Will

Patrick and Anya please leave the floor.

The winners of the swingathon are Natalie and Artem.

Well deserved there. I love Len in the background going, no, this move,

this move. Those were the headlines. As if we were not generous enough

with that, here is more gossip from behind the scenes over the weekend.

Quarter-final. Swingathon - it's going to be one hell of a night!

I am just getting ready to... My bongos before my dance. I am doing

the best I can, with the rumba. It is one for the ladies - definitely!

Pretty good run through. A bit workly I is so tiring doing it twice

in a row. I begin and end the routine as a man ne kin. So, I have

to do no blinking, no wobbling about. Very jealous. Kevin being

Michael Jackson in his Argentine tango. One of my favourite moves.

This swingathon is a killer. Throwing her in the air, flipping

her around. It is like a crazy gym session, but over and over and over

again! It is amazing being on the dance floor with all the other

couples, having fun and dancing our heart out. You have to watch the

video I made for Murder On The Dance Floor. This is some competition - I

have done before and I won. The moral of the story - don't go by the

rules. So s I am a bit bored and I -- so, I am a bit bored and I have

zero to do. Let's sneak backstage. Dave, I didn't know where you would

be today! I missed you, buddy. Let's dance. Oh, you've gotten better!

That was really bad! That was really good!

No, threw it away. I never win anything! We get really spoiled here

at Strictly. The last layers of cement and render - trowelled on!

Trowelled! Busmfully trowelled on! The audience is coming in and look

at that! Say, hi, everybody! They're ready. Can we get everyone

down to the corridor for final checks.

It's going to be a great night. Here we go - show time. An exciting

show! Good luck, guys.

Go for it, guys. Thank you! Oh, it makes you emotional. On

Saturday night they got the party started with a sizzling and

stunt-filled salsa. Sadly, it was not enough, as they were eliminated

from the competition last night. Give a warm welcome for Ashley and

Ola. I know! Stop. I have just about

stopped crying. I was a mess last night. How are you feeling today

after your unfortunate exit? I feel like a new man I really do. I am

absolutely gutted. Of course I am. It has been an amazing experience.

It is the way the cookie crumbles. We've had a great time. It is so

frustrating, you are so close. Your routine was so impressive as well.

How dare they not vote... That lift when you ran - what were you

thinking, people? Look at that! I just tried to re-enact that with

Pasha and it didn't go well. Were you scared for your life in places?

I was. I've got to say we took risks in that salsa. I took risks in that

salsa. Because we were in the bottom two last week, I wanted to come out

with a bang and, we did, I think. That was the best dance for me, for

Ashley. We've pushed hard, really pushed hard last week I was

brilliant. You should be so proud of yourself. It was stunning. You put a

smile on Craig's face. He still didn't give you anything higher than

an eight - the toad. I didn't get my ten, I had have eat my bag of

sequins - which is what I said I would do. How frustrated were you to

be stuck at 35? To be stuck on 35 for five weeks in a row was

unimaginative. It is upsetting. You want to get better, worse, learn

something. It felt very dull really. Very stagnant. The swingathon, you

got voted second. What is going on? I said what I thought about the

swingathon last week on the show. I they edited it out. -- they edited

it out. We got ten seconds into it and they were like, you are off!

You hadn't even got into the swing... Let's celebrate your

brilliance. We have loved having you on the show. You have been awesome.

To watch from the beginning to the end - the improvements are amazing.

Shall we reveal your Strictly partner? Yes. It is Ola.

We get on so well. I love teaching Ashley. That's a good boy!

Ola thaz been amazing since day -- Ola has been amazing since day one.

She is patient and fair. I am very happy. Your face when you are

admiring Ola's Derrier - that was a picture picture picture! I missed

the birth of my son. He is chilling out. There's no rest for the wicked.

I am back in training. I am determined to do a dance that both

my little boys will be very proud of. You put the oh in smooth. You

came out - it had lovely flow. The whole thing was incredible. You will

go far! This has been the biggest challenge

of my life so far. That way! In your head you know what you want to do,

but you can't quite do it! You have coped well with a very difficult

dance. Those hip rolls were absolute flilt and I loved it!

-- filth. And I loved it. Taking to the floor on a Saturday night is the

most surreal thing that has ever happened to me. You are dancing -

doing something out of your comfort zone. You need more... . I am

frustrated with myself, definitely. Ashley has been dedicated. If I can

get over the nerves, then it would be the biggest buzz ever. I actually

found myself smiling, naturally throughout the dance. It had speed.

It had nfrge. It had plenty of gercher! It did!

I have these big, long apy arms. You should be good because your arms are

so long. And spaghetti legs. I look like a big jelly dancing!

If you want to shine, yo vu to polish. Poll -- -- you have to

polish. This quickstep, without a doubt is the most complicated dance

I've done so far. That was tailor-made!

Len's comment was brilliant. Can I copyright that?

Stop it! No!

Ashley is definitely a bit of a joker in the rehearsal room. It is

my dance class! Sorry!

I'm into the bizarre and extraordinary and I thought that was

extraordinary! A great score, but I need to break

into tens. Everyone else is doing it. I need to do it. Beautifully

handled. You glided through it with incredible poise. I have got 35

points for the third week in row. I am determined to get more.

The pressure is really on. Don't do that - that looks like an old man.

Do that. I have got to get my steps right, the character right - and

flying on a magic carpet. What can possibly go wrong.

Sorry, Ola! You created some strong masculine

lines - well done. Finally having that red light above my head was a

horrible feeling. I have come this far. I don't want the journey to

ends. He tries so hard to make me proud. That is lovely! The whole

experience is just amazing. It was slick, quick, plenty of tricks.

Patrick and an a ya. Patrick and Anya. Patrick and Anya. I am so

proud of you. You did so well. I love you as a person. Good luck with

everything you do. You are wonderful.

How do you feel when you look back at how many dances you have done?

There was an amount of work. Have you got a favourite one? The salsa.

I said to Ola, please throw everything at this. I did not expect

her to throw that much at it. It felt great. We got it right. Are you

gutted to leave before the semi-finals? Really gutted. We would

like to be in the semi-final and final. Everyone is so good in the

competition. You are gutted but everyone is so good.

They all deserve to be there. It is so full on. Everyone is pulling out

the stops. You are happy for everyone as well. I am looking

forward to not doing two dances this week.

James, Mr Jordan and Karen, Mrs Taylor-Dawson to be are they excited

to have you back? When you take Karen dancing, I will be up for

babysitting duties. Call Aunty Zo. You were the only two boys in the

competition - Patrick is now left. Can he make it to the final with the

girls? He can. Come on, Patrick. You can do it. He is one of the older

people - I can say that without being rude. He is the older guy, he

is 50. He could be my dad! That would be a scandal - wow!

I would never say. I think everyone has been through this. From the very

start, I think everyone deserves to be in the final. Everyone has put

120% in. I want everyone to go there... . Everyone is amazing. Good

luck. You too. We have loved having you on the show. I'll miss, Zoe. You

know where I am! I told you, it would be me welling

up. Now it is time to test your Strictly knowledge - who could this

possibly be? Is it lessy Garrett? I am not sure!

We launched our pro-challenge. Please welcome Pasha.

Thank goodness you are back. Where have you been? Just around the

corner. All this time? I was waiting. Lovely! Are you nervous

about this whole pro-challenge? Just a little bit. OK, you should be,

Kovalev - you should be very nervous indeed. Let's remind ourselves of

how this challenge works. This is a challenge to set a

Guinness World Record. For the most drunk sailor dance steps in 30

seconds. It is a cross step behind. A step to the side and then a

replacement of weight to the starting foot. They need to make

sure they cross behind and replace the weight.

Let the battle commence. Thank you very much. You were a runner up last

year. Does that add pressure. It is all about the record. You have to

win. You have to win! There is no other way. Let's see how you got on.

Good luck. Last year, I finished second. This

year I will go for the top. I am not worried about anything. This step

was down by me for 25 years now, so I am pretty sure I can do it.

. Very official! Hello Pasha. How are you feeling about the challenge

today? I am feeling great. To me, it is more about pressure of --

pleasure of dance rather than a challenge. Last year, you were

second. Do you think you can beat it this year? Possibly. OK, then.

Please take to the floor. Good luck! For the record, counting you down in

three, two, one... Go! Stop! Well, Pasha, how did that

feel? Great. I can do another 30 seconds. It looked like you took

your time, but the quality was there. You danced beautifully. We

had some arm movements in there. It was not the fastest attempt, but you

looked great. Thank you, you may leave the floor. Thank you. I think

I got carried away a little with the performance side of things. If there

is a world record for style - I would definitely win that. Give it

up for Kovalev. You were going for technique there - I see.

Feeling artistic and kind of went for that. They were stunning. Let's

look at the leaderboard. Let's see how things lie at the moment.

You have to get 73. Confident? I think if I get half of it, I will be

happy. Let's look. It is time to find out. The footage was watched

back by adjudicators in slow motion. The moment of truth, Pasha, I can

reveal that you scored... 37 - with no disqualifications. No

disqualifications! That's amazing! 37. A lady has passed out. She's so

shocked. Let's see where you are - oh, no, down at the bottom. You were

beaten by a girl. That is not the first time. What do you think the

other pros will make of your efforts? I think they will

appreciate the beauty of my dancing. The beauty of your work. You have

brought shame on the Kovalev family. Leave! Now... It was not that bad!

We love you to pieces. Pasha... Take a bow!

Oh, dear. I love him - I really do. In a moment I will talk to the

lovely Mr Tonioli. Earlier on I asked you to guess who our mystery

celebrity was. Let's see if you got it right.

I was on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010. My partner was the delightly

Anton du Beke. It is I - Anne Widdecome.

It is I - Zoe Ball! I am so excited to see my next guest I may fall off

the sofa and wave my arms in the air. Please welcome Bruno Tonioli.

Hello, my darling. How are you? Nice to see you! Thank you so much.

Lovely soft jumper. Cashmere. Only the best will do! Were you shocked

by the results on Sunday night? Are you always shocked by the results?

At this stage of the competition, it is always sad to see somebody go

because they were both good. I said it was like choosing between

diamonds and pearls. It's going to be very hard. It will be harder next

week. It happens that personally I found Patrick's performance more

involving. I was more taken by it. It does not mean to say Ashley was

bad. They were both very, very good. It is down to splitting hairs. It is

so tough. Because the competition is so tight, the margin between them is

hardly noticeable. So, it will be very hard. It will be harder next

week. Is it frustrating for the judges when the public vote changes

the leaderboard? Personally, I feel we are doing that for the public, so

you have to accept their point of view. We are not doing it for

ourselves. If they want to see their favourite coming back, obviously

they have the right to do so. It becomes very hard for the judges

when you have two very, very good people on the dance-off. Whatever

you do, you will upset somebody. You will break somebody's heart. It

breaks my heart. As a viewer, I feel very bad. You have to make a

decision in a split second. Usually the performance which stays with you

the most is the one you go for. Susanna and Kevin and their

Argentine tango - you said their dance was a bit too mechanical. Talk

us through that. It has to have the feel of a natural conversation. It

is fluid. It happens - the hooks - the changes. Off he goes! It should

not look rehearsed. It should look improvised. That is how it happened

originally. It was placed - it didn't have the kind of mediate spon

tin theyty - that flow. She was walking around a lot. Nicely! She

walks beautifully. Sophie and Brendan and their tango. You were

impressed with bran Dan's Corrie ohhing graphy. This is -- Brendan's

Corrie ohhing graphy. -- choreography. I found it very

exciting. It was well played and the personality came across. Sometimes,

what she does, it is because she's so tall, especially with this move,

instead of finishing it, she kind of wobbles a bit. She has to get that

right. It has improved enormously. Come on, come on!

Hit me! Hit me with the next one. Abbey and Aljaz thanked their

Viennese -- and their Viennese waltz. Look at them - the chemistry

between the two of them is unsurpassed. She was beautiful. I

was just taken by the whole thing. That is what it is for me - the ten

- it is where I forget myself. I have to embrace the fantastic

moment. I love it when you forget yourself. More on that later!

Natalie and Artem. You have mentioned a slip-up. What happened?

At the end, it was at this end, she kind of, she did a pass and she went

over a bit like this. It kind of lost a bit of the strength.

Nevertheless, look, every placing, every position, it is just

beautiful. Stunning work! It is stunning. The figures, the lines.

The two of them are beautiful together. What did you think about

Len's comments about their performance? The thing is there are

four of us. We have to express what we feel. I just have to think about

myself. I cannot think about what the others are doing. My job is to

make a point. Hopefully I engage the public. I never say I am right, but

I really feel strongly about what I say. Of course, if you don't agree

with me, it is fine. The same things happen in the panel. They express

their opinion. They are entitled to do so. You have to ask him, because

there are four of us. We have different takes. He is here next

week. We will ask him. These two were in the bottom two.

Why weren't the viewers taken with it? Sometimes when somebody gets a

ten, people feel they are safe. They say, maybe we will give our backing

to somebody else. I am telling you - everybody - nobody is safe. The

margin is so small, if you don't vote, there'll be problems. And then

you will get cross. Then it is our fault! You have to vote. You have to

vote! We have seen the swingathon come back. How difficult is it for

you to judge six couples on the floor at the same time. You are

checking everything. First of all the person has to stand up for the

right reasons. The first thing you notice is if somebody loses timing

and the feet are floppy, they go off balance. The worst and the best. So

you have to try and always kind of identitify who is the best and who

is the worst and pick them that way. Between the four of us, hopefully we

got it right. It is difficult. I am literally scanning. I am like a

drone, looking! You, out! Very quickly - the semi-finals this

weekend. What do you want, sum up in three to five words? The margin

between them is almost unexistent. They have to maintain the Level Up

until now, but make sure they stand out. The public will vote for the

person who captures their imagination the most. I love it and

I love you. That is it for today. We have it all in. I am back tomorrow

at 6. 30pm. I will be joined by Patrick p, Karen Hauer and Karen

Hardy here to chat