Episode 9 Strictly - It Takes Two

Hello and welcome to Thursday's It Takes Two. A lot of love in the air.

We have a great line-up. It is Deborah and robin! The high-scoring

waltz was up the judges' street, Natalie and Artem are here! And they

got loud and wowed the crowd. Abbey Natalie and Artem are here! And they

and al-Jacques join us. -- Aljaz join us. And we get a

sneaky look at next Saturday's costumes with Vicky Gill! This is

Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two! Live from London, this is Strictly:

It Takes Two. This is your host, Zoe Ball! Hello and welcome to Strictly

Come Dancing. It is 48 hours until D-Day, that is Dance Day, but we are

in a romantic mood in the studio. A lot of kissing going on there. It is

Love Week. Love it! In a moment we are meeting

Deborah and Robin but before that, let's have a look at how our

celebrities are getting on with the training.

I am dancing a 1578 bar. There is a lot going on in the Samba.

Thatst way! I just can't get this. It scares the hell out of me. His

arms, his posture, his hips. There is a lot of things to work on.

arms, his posture, his hips. There I want to feel like I'm improving.

That it is something that comes naturally. I should know that by

now, it is week three! But the whole hips mall arcy, hmm... It is easy!

Got it! We are dancing the waltz. In ballroom you always lead with your

heel. In Latin you step on to the ball of your foot. I seem to be

really, really good at doing them the wrong way around. Oops! There is

a lot more to it than I had realised. It is heels and heads. The

legs don't know what they are doing but the brain gets in the way. Then

there is a crisis in the mind. Heel, heel... I don't put my legs in

there is a crisis in the mind. the right positions and I'm not

pivoting correctly it all becomes a bit of knitting after a while. This

week, we have a belter it is a patio doble. It is a lot of strutting. One

of the worries is the cape work. It is not just a question of hello!

There is a technique of flicking it. Dave has to per sonify a Matador.

Belly in, hips forward, feet together! And then look natural.

Sometimes he is so carried away into the character, he forgets his

routine. I have to prove I'm the bull-conquering matador in love with

his bull! That sounds wrong! I amen joying the quickstep. Which is a bit

wrong. I keep bursting into giggles. There are bits that I find natural,

but there are complicated steps in there.

The heel! Sorry! I'm too far on the side? ! Getting them in the right

order is an issue. Deborah has been working really hard on the frame.

The shoulders are down. Moving across the floor well. If it stays

like that on Saturday night I will be in heaven. Walk, walk, walk,

superb! That's what we want a happy Bobby. They earned the judges'

respect but will the quickstep take them higher up the leaderboard it is

Deborah and Robin! Hello you gorgeous two some. Well done.

Another great dance for you on Saturday. You looked stunny. Our

pretty lady in pink. How much did you enjoy it? I loved it. I was

terrified, then when I started I thought I would give it my all it

could be the last dance. Are you any more confident the

second week out? It is hard. It is a weird feeling. I am scared but

really, really excited. A feeling I have never felt before. I think I

spooked him before the dance. Yeah, you did! He raised his voice

to me. That has never happened. How did she spook you? Little bits

of the routine were not going right. They had not been going right. I

said I would have to take it out. She said you can't take it out. I

said I cannot let this happen on live television on Saturday night.

So I am taking it out. Then she got it perfectly.

So, a little technique you have learned! The judges were saying they

love watching you dance. Fiona says she is impressed with you, a dancing

Dragon with dignity. Exactly what Strictly is all about. Getting

better each week. How lovely.

Robin, Len said that Deborah has to concentrate on the technique. Has it

happened this week? We are working on the rise and the fall. We have

the quickstep. So a lot of foot to foot action. We have been working on

that. Deborah has had very sore balls of the feet.

They are totally numb now. It does not hurt anymore it is fine.

And you equalled the score from the first week, are you hoping to get it

up? I was chuffed... Yes! Sorry is the answer! So, OK, well that is

this week. Now you came into the training room a few weeks ago, a

Dragon entered the training room but it seems that Robin has found a way

to tame the feisty business woman. Look at this you are doing, step.

No. No. No you are walk, walk, walk, that was awful.

Is that you cross? Are you finished? You should just go. I can look at

you, you can look at me. No. No, I'm leading. I have tried and tried. I

don't think anyone has seen me cross. Do not #k078 off the floor!

What am I doing? ! You are going to have a very unhappy Robin on your

hands. I am scared now. Go! I have had

enough! Sorry. Oh! Sit! Now, that is how to train a dragon! She is very

good. Robin, you are horrified? I how to train a dragon! She is very

did not realise I was that tough. I am more horrified, my husband has

seen me obeying somebody. He has no idea he could do that! So, don't

give him any ideas! What challenges have you had with Deborah, Robin?

Deborah discovered that the quickstep is quick with lots of

steps in it. As it says on the tin. So far in the rehearsal Deborah is

starting well, then as we get into the dance, there is a

minute-and-a-half of chaos. Don't say chaos! Organised chaos!

Thank, babe. Let's listen to the music. This is one of my favourites,

Higher and Higher, Jackie Wilson, why did you choose this one? I am

not a smoochy person it was a song that my husband and I when we met it

is a joyous song. It is a lovely song. It is about happiness joy,

life. That's what I chose it. Good luck, it will be better than

organised chaos. Don't say that on tooif telly! Don't look sheepish

now! Back to the training room to see how Sophie, Mark and Natalie are

shaping up for Saturday's passionate performances.

This week I have a Samba. It is notoriously hard! Yes it is a tricky

one, but it can be done. It has to feel effortless and fun

and fiery. So that's my job to try to bring all

of that to the dance this week. I believe in Sophie. She has talent.

She has the right attitude. This is my first Latin number, so

let's see what happens. We can deliver what we are starting to

deliver nour, if that stays as it is, come Saturday, I will be a happy

man. We are dancing the American Smooth.

It all about control, the hold, and making it smooth. I thought it would

be easy it is not. He is struggling with a few steps.

I have it. We are a tad more serious... It is such a graceful

dance. It would be a shame to just do

comedy, comedy, comedy. We wanted to look a little more classy. Open up a

different side of Mark. I hope that people enjoy the

routine. We are dancing the rumba. We have a

daunting task ahead of us it is a lot about hip action, footwork and

to get the fluidity of the movement. At the moment I am a bit rigid.

Rumba is a slow dance. The slower the dance, the more technical it is.

So, a bit of pressure this week. I am somebody that gets tense

quickly. I don't know what I'm doing! I need to relax into it a

little more. Stop panicking. There is a lot to panic about, that is the

problem! Don't panic! They are currently the top of the

leaderboard. They are hoping that the rumba will keep them up there.

Natalie and Artem are here. Welcome. Welcome. Week two, you are on the

top spot. Craig said you were breathtaking, you must be feeling

good, Natalie? It was an amazing night. We really enjoyed dancing the

waltz together, I think. There was such a beautiful song it made it

easier. It was lovely. I had a great night.

Did you critic your neck with the incredible head rolls you did? They

were stunning! I was warm by then. We had rolled a few times by that

time of the day. And Artem, I mean being top dogs so

early on at the competition, does it add pressure? I don't even want to

-- want to think about it. It is scary. This week we are doing the

rumba... And... It is challenging. OK. We will get tonne that. The

judges picked up on your great ability to tell the story of a dance

throughout. I know that Bruno was getting poetic, as he does. Has your

acting training helped with that, do you think? I think it is really

important to tell a story in a dance. It is something that I

relish. So, I am lucky that I get to chance

to do that on this show. I am hoping that that can kind of

help to cover mistakes that I makes a well! What mistakes! ? Are a few.

I should say, you glazed over with that, like, wow it is so beautiful!

Did I? Maybe a little! A great comment from the judge, Len was

really impressed with the routine. Does Natalie help you? Do you help

me with the dance? Absolutely! She was with me all the way.

You are the boss in charge? Absolutely.

Don't mess with him. The training is Absolutely.

paying off, but we have spotted that Natalie does not find it easy to

focus on the task in hand. Look at this.

This week we have... That is really funny! One...

LAUGHTER REPORTER: How does it feel?

LAUGHTER Right!

LAUGHTER I'm really sorry!

REPORTER: OK, take a moment. OK. One more time.

I don't know what's gotten into me? ! She is off again.

It is like when someone laughs in assembly and they get cross with

you? ! Yes. This week you are doing the rumba. I

hear it is not your favourite. Why not? I will enjoy it on Saturday it

is a beautiful dance. It will be the death of me, I think.

Really, it is that difficult? Let's listen to the music. You are dancing

to Rihanna. Come on. Oh, I think this is going

to be great. Tell me about the slippery move? The slithering one,

the snake. Oh, yes, there is one. It is really exciting. There are lots

of things that can go really wrong. Thanks for that.

I love the way you say that with a maniac-type laugh and a grin on your

face. Good luck with it on Saturday. Artem is hilarious! Best of luck,

Natalie and Artem! Back to the training room. Time to see how

Rachel, Vanessa and Julian are getting on with their dancing.

Stop it, you two! We are dancing the chafr char char. I need to focus and

concentrate on being precise, the movements. It is superfast,

supersharp. The main thing that Rachel is struggling with is to

co-ordinate all of the body parts together. Straight legs, small

steppers. I'm getting confused with when to

lock your knees and when you are allowed to bend them. I am flinging

my legs a bit. There are a lot of things to think about in the

cha-cha-cha. Hopefully Rachel will remember them and bring it on the

night. I'm dancing the tango. I am finding

it very difficult. The dance is so fast. Brutalment I am brutal.

I hope that I have the stamina and the fitness to keep up. The tango

will be a challenge. I have put in more content into the routine. He is

going at full speed like a racehorse, there am I chugging along

like a cart horse. She is getting the steps in the wrong place it is a

worry. I want to get myself into a place

where the tango is my dance. I want to be tango, I don't want to be

taggowed! -- be tangoed! I am doing the

quickstep. I love it Julian is not quick or light on his feet. Which

well have to work on that. It is demanding. Lots of pointy

toes, flicks which is hard going. It will be a test for him, for his

technique, but on a performance level he will shine. He really love

it is. I can see him in sparkle, the head

band, love it. So, we have seen the dances, what about the dresses? Here

to give us a sneaky peak is Vicky Gill! Can I say incredibly frocks

over the weekend. This weekend it is the Love Theme. What can we expect

to see? It is a first for Love Week, but it is everywhere. In the

screens, in the props. If not anywhere else, it is on the frocks.

Walk with me. Over here, there is Natalie's rum ban dress. Look at

that. A saucy little number to our lovely lady. The rumba dresses, what

colours are they normally? Soft colours. The professional Latin

dancers like white, but not everyone can have a white, but Artem

requested a pastel colour. So we chose peppermint. So, one shoulder,

I like it. We have kept it simple for Natalie.

So one shoulder line, a column dress with a high split... So that the

legs, the pins can come out. Yes, everything you saw in the vvt

it, she can do. I think that Julian will be jealous

this week. Will it stay like that? Or dot

dresses change through the weeks? They do.

Come with us. Look at the lovely ironing board!

Come with us. Over here, Pasha and Anna are doing

a fox trachlt talk me through, are there any goudies on this week? Not

this week. This is a classic colour. There is a lot of pearl detail on

the week. Anya had it on in the summer fittings and liked it.

I think that she will be confident in the dress.

They are beautiful. The ruffles! So, Sophie has asked for something for

the Samba, colour? That is exciting. Yes, lots of colours. We are

thinking Mardi Gras but Sophie, I loved her eye make-up.

The two tonne. It was gold and purple? Gold and purple with maybe

some red. I used that as inspiration for the Samba dress. So there is a

multi-coloured affair going on. You can see them here. About six or

seven. That will be bright. .

Yes, so the shapes are running through the body and then covered in

crystals. And Fiona is doing a waltz. The

music is it is from High Society? Yes, True Love.

So, she is Grace Kelly. I think this will suit her, she is

truly in love with Anton. In the film, Grace Kelly is wearing

champagne. Which we love, but for the TV and for Fiona, we are putting

a tuille over the top, that is in burgundy. It is a ballerina length,

so lots of legs. And she has amazing legs. Now the

boys, this weekend, Dave Myers is doing a pasodoble. I am so excited I

cannot breathe. Is there a cape? There will be a cape. I think that

Dave is my favourite! You are not allowed favourites, this is the BBC!

He is bringing in his biker jacket, I think.

Vicky Gill, head of the cos tombs, what an amazing lady she is. Now,

let's see how some of our final couples are getting on in training.

This week, I am doing the foxtrot. Anya's routine is beautiful.

Exquisite. Patrick is going to show a different

side of him. It is like I feel he can't wait to start dancing and

learning. That was brilliant.

Coming to rehearsals after Casualty it is a joy to be up and doing. So

there is an excitement about coming to rehearse. Don't look crazy.

It is really simple the foxtrot, just like that! This week we are

dancing the veen ease waltz. Elegant, soft and graceful but

spinney. There is only so much I can take. I explained what worked, what

did not. . I just go around three times, I am

on the edge of the room with my head spinning.

She has to overcome the disiness of the veen ease waltz on Saturday

night. I can't bare it.

I am worried about it not being I can't bare it.

terribly elegant. It could ab-Viennese Whirl with me collapsed

on the floor. This This week, I am dancing the rumba, so I have to get

sexy. It is notoriously difficult for the Celebrity boys, he needs to

sexy. It is notoriously difficult be graceful. He needs to be slow in

his action and good in the technique.

The rumba is very up close and personal, so difficult in ways but

enjoyable on others. personal, so difficult in ways but

It is difficult cult to get up close and personal it will be challenging.

Putting that behind me, I hope I will be OK on the night.

This week it is Love Week. I am happy with the jive. I feel more

comfortable with. It is energetic and fast. Hopefully I get this one

right. I feel like I will fall over. The jive is the fastest dance that

we do. It is hard to learn them and do them well. There is a lot of

kicks, swinging, we are going to make sure that we leave no stones

unturned. The least I don't I have to think

about being sexy, what is a great, fun energy gettic dance. Yes, just

like that! They are looking good in the training room. Even better on

the sofa. It is Abbey and jazz. -- Aljaz.

A great score on Saturday night but you looked gutted, what had gone

wrong? I missed the first step. It threw me for the whole dance. I

didn't have a cob on. I was just so upset. I had a great dress run. Then

I thought, why did I do that? I felt awful.

Poor Aljaz had been working his guts off with me. Then I missed it, the

step, I messed it all up. But that is the thing for you, you

feel like your world has collapsed. I cannot look at it. It is

harrowing. Annie from Kent says: She is too

tough on herself. It was a great cha-cha-cha, not sure why she

apologised at the end. There you go. Do you think she was hard on

herself, Aljaz? Yes. It is hard to go from a waltz to a cha-cha-cha. I

think that she took the steps, everything was spot on. She missed a

little thing. What went through your mind? Did you see her foot go off on

the wrong step? What do you do? I just think you have to forget about

it and start from scratch. So if you have it in the back of your mind it

will ruin the whole thing. So leave it as it is.

It is always going to be there. Threat go. Yes, let it go and go on.

It is easy for hip to say that. I know.

Darcey said you need to learn to trust your partner and relax. Is

that going to be easy to do? Do you trust him? God, I trust him. He is

the best teacher. I am so happy with him. Amazing. A sensational dancer,

but I do need to relax, I think. It is important to have fun with it.

We have so much fun all week. So this is building up to the show. So

we should have the most fun there. So I will try to do that this week.

It is a fine line. You are terrified. Excited but why am I

excited? This is terrifying! Now, it may be Love Week but it does seem

that the training has not been a bed of roses this week for Abbey.

Oh, God! Why do you always drop me! Come on, you need to shout at me

more! Shut up! You are annoying me today! It is finished. I hate this

bit. No, don't. I do. I hate this dance. I actually

hate this one. You can't say you hate cha-cha-cha.

I can, I just did. I don't drop you. You do drop me. No, I don't. You do.

Great chemistry, hey? ! Brilliant. You do drop me. No, I don't. You do.

You make me laugh! Now, the jive, this week it is Love Week, your jive

is based on one of your great loves in your life, which is? My city!

Liverpool! My family, and I love the Beatles. I got to take Aljaz to meet

my family and show him some sights. We had a look at the city, didn't

we? We did. What did you think of Liverpool? We

went to see the Cavern. We went to see the Mercy! Then we the Merseyy!

And I went to the children's hospital, I did some dancing with

the kids. I bet that they loved it.

I think that your jive may be one of the best dances on Saturday! Let's

hear it from Abbey and Aljaz. You are all my favourites! Which

football do you support, by the way? Barcelona! Stoke! That's it from all

of my guests. Thank you very much to all of them.

I am back with Patrick, Anya, plus Ben and Kristina and Ashley and

Aliona will be here with the Friday panel it is gooshgsd ladies and

gentlemen, Matt Goss,