Episode 41 Strictly - It Takes Two

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

Ball. Well our Blackpool Big Weekender

certainly lived up to the hype. We had cheerleaders,

carnival floats, a flying piano and our first perfect 40

of the series! But the bright lights of Blackpool

soon faded for Greg and Natalie when they were eliminated

from the competition. But fear not they're here to light

up the sofa for one last time! Greg and Natalie! APPLAUSE

Don't make them cry. And I really don't think you're

ready for this jelly. Joining them, the bootylicious

Judge Rinder and Oksana! APPLAUSE

Look at that! Thank you for that delicious treat!

Plus, Aljaz is here to answer your questions in Ask the Pros.

But first - from day one this couple have a had a spring in their step

But before we say goodbye - here's Greg and Natalie's last dance.

How are you feeling? I think it could be an emotional one today. I

don't really know what to do now. It's bizarre. You prep every

Saturday night into Sunday to get ready for your Monday training

again. And today, I don't have to train. We spend all our time

together, we've been hanging out for three months and then I texted heard

this morning saying, what do I do? I said to Daisy and Aljaz a couple of

weeks ago that you need a weaning process. What a way to go. If you're

going to go out, go at Blackpool. It was spectacular. Did you absolutely

love this one? I've been saying I don't think I'm very good but I

watched this dance and I think we did a really good job. I loved doing

it. APPLAUSE Didn't they do well! Everybody sees

the show and use the dance and everything else but we lock

ourselves away everyday to get to that level. I'd start the week not

knowing single thing! And due to this incredible lady's amazing

patients, we get to that point. It was never going to be that I was a

world champion dancer. But the fact is, I saw a video the other day off

where I started! LAUGHTER It's purely down to Nat, she is wonderful

and I'm lucky to know her. We love you so much. It was such a

spectacular show on Saturday night, everyone was incredible. How much

were you thinking it could be a dance of situation? I was just

thinking about how amazing you were, the venue, the audience. It was so

electric and magical. You did better than I expected and you did

everything I asked for during the week. It was such an amazing

experience. I wasn't even thinking about the bottom two until we heard

our name. I didn't want anything to retract from how wonderful it was.

We heard our name and it was like, Icahn be happening again. I was so

devastated because I knew we had so much more amazing things to come.

I've had so much fun in rehearsals every day, starting from scratch,

seeing the beginning and end of every week and being so emotionally

and overwhelmingly proud of you and the social media and everyone's

support. You've had so much support. If you're not emotional already you

will be at the end of this. Here is your Strictly story.

Natalie, I'm really excited about working with her, she'll be the one

person who can take me on. If Greg thinks training for the Olympics is

hard he hasn't experienced anything yet! So far we've been working on

the jive. It's scary, I was thinking I would be the worst dancer ever on

Strictly and actually I think I might be average to poor, not just

poor. You were like a blue frog jumping! Gray could go all the way

my darling! Tango is all about movement, power and posture. It's

coming together now. What I loved about that dance is the intent and

amount of aggression you had in there. The dance this week is the

American smooth. A part of me has fully fallen in love with dancing.

Greg, it was a bull's-eye, well done. Eight from Craig, what? The

salsa, it's outside my comfort zone and I'm going to work all week to

get it right. Hurricane Greg, it's the salsa, he shakes it for all it's

worth! We are doing the cha-cha, I've got to get it right and Naylor

at. -- nail it. This dance I'm afraid really did expose all the

stuff that you really can't do, sadly. Don't get down on this, come

back stronger. The rumba is notoriously difficult but I'm really

coming into it hoping I can catch it better than I did the cha-cha. It

was passionate, you had plenty of drama. It wasn't anything I think to

do with rumba. Don't make me cry! This week we've got the Viennese

waltz. One of the dances of been looking forward to. We've been in

the bottom of the table in the last few weeks, I'm desperate to not be

there any more. The choreography I have to say was exceptional, and

beautifully acted by both of you. Well done! We are dancing the pasta

dough grey. It's a difficult dance. I was hoping I could take to it

quickly but I'm finding it difficult. -- Passa doble. There was

plenty of aggression, plenty of attack. It just lost a little

finesse. I put everything into that final performance and went for it

like no tomorrow. Thankfully that was enough to keep us in. We are

doing the quickstep. It's going to be fast, furious, exciting and I

know he is going to love it. There is no limit and no number you can

put onto the amount that Natalie has helped me. She's done everything to

put me where I am now. So bubbly, so bouncy, like a Springbok on the run!

As long the anything you really mucked up was the leap. The couple

I'd like to save... Claudia and AJ. Claudia and AJ. Claudia and AJ. I've

done some amazing things but this truly is one of the best things I've

done. I've made such a good friend here. APPLAUSE

Watching all those dances, so many highlights, Greg what is your

favourite out of all of them? So difficult because there's been three

dances, four that I love more than the rest. Starting off with the

American smooth in week three. The rumba was fantastic, and then the

Viennese and then the weekend as well. When he lifted you into the

air... Coming out of the jive as well was spectacular. Can I say

something. I just want to say thank you so much to our partners for

making this experience so special. Susie is a dream come true and this

experience would not have been so amazing if we didn't have such

fantastic support from our partners. We've become the best friends and

that's the best part of Strictly. I found you and your family, you're

now in my life for ever. It's the most amazing thing. To see you grow

from zero to hero, I love you. Total hero. You were a hero before... On

the dance floor I mean! Who would you like to win and who would you

like to see in the final? Everyone is so good. Probably my best mate

out of all of them is Judge Rinder. This is a bit of a plead to some

people, people need to get off of Ed's case. People have to understand

that he's not as young as some of the other people. He's not in as

great shape some of the others. He tried so incredibly hard. He has a

zero dance experience. But I've noticed since the weekend is a lot

of people get on his case. That's not fair because he works as hard as

anybody else. He's improving as well. Surely that is what the show

is about as well. There's also the likes of Danny and Louise Hunt. They

are incredible. We've loved having you on the show, Greg and Natalie!

CHEERING Now Strictly may have headed off

for a little holiday at the weekend, but that doesn't mean it was jolly

for everyone - here's a behind the scenes look at how the ambitious

seaside special became a reality. Dancing in Blackpool on Strictly

means everything. As the dance capital of the world. What does

Blackpool mean to me? Glamour, glitter. Glory. Blackpool is

everything. Extravagant. Fish and chips, friendly people, ballroom

dancing history. The legends of dance. Whether competition heats up.

The home of ballroom. Let's do this, Blackpool. Its Blackpool week so

everything has got to be bigger and better. First time you come out on

this amazing floor, began spacious and sparkly and grand. It's really

hard to forget about all that and concentrate on your steps. Such a

busy day. It's a bit like my body was a million times behind my brain.

It still feels a bit like that now. There's so much going on in the

dance, we've changed some stuff. It's fine, I'm not going to let

myself get stressed about it. I'm having gems sewn into my here. I'm

going to look ten years younger any minute! I've had this amazing

rhinestone eyebrows. Nothing is too much for Strictly but sometimes

apparently it is! I'm going to a cool. I didn't know my head could do

this! I'm going to show you Janette's point of view. This is

wardrobe. If I take you through there's lots of machines and fabric,

lots of sparkles. There is the key, hi Vickey! It is pretty crazy. This

week in Blackpool we've got extra dancers, we've got 121 costumes in

total. It is organised chaos but everyone is doing great. So this

week it is Greg and Ore's birthday. We've brought some gifts. We hope

they like them! Happy birthday!

I feel sick. We are alive in one minute.

Good luck, everybody. Tonight is going to be amazing. We are always

ready. Are you ready? Live from Blackpool. The home of

ballroom. This is Strictly Come Dancing.

What a spectacle that was. Now our next couple left the judges

in shock at the weekend, with Bruno saying their Salsa

was spicier and hotter I had never seen a guy able to shake

their cheeks as well as that. You got overexcited and you got lost for

timing. Incredibly impressive. It's the hip-tastic

Judge and Oksana! It was a long wait on Saturday night

for you but to close the show at Blackpool, it really was something

else. It was an honour when they said that we were going to close the

show. We to have a party feeling and the whole place was so full of

goodwill. The choice from everyone in the audience permeated into the

dance. And nothing gets past Len, I got so overexcited that I did forget

the steps a bit. It was just so much fun. For me that is all it is about,

just expressing yourself. And how could you not get carried away with

that atmosphere? And you had two weeks of being well-behaved in the

ballroom. You needed to unleash those hips! How much did you have to

bring him out of his shell? Not at all!

There was loads of love for you online, Alan Carr said...

"Loved Judge Rinder ? why not make your entrance through a massive

It was very floral. I think it needed to be and you can get away

with that. I carried it off. We must talk about that lift. I just lifted

Oksana off-camera just to see how like she is. It was a dead left? It

was not that difficult, she is very light. She is a human woman! Did you

have to put in extra time at the gym Razma this is the best exercise

ever. Before I came into this I did take exercise quite seriously. But

if you have someone that can make themselves might, it helps. And I

had my spinach! You all have such incredible core strength. There was

a moment in the dance, please do not drop her! You have been fifth on the

leader board for some time. It is always 33, what do you need to do to

get those scores higher or are you not worried? I am not really worried

as long as we do not drop down. The challenge is just to get it right on

the night because rehearsals usually go really well and then there are

these little imperfections. Not a big deal because we still enjoy

ourselves and I'm so proud of him. But to improve the school. We need

to start bribing the judges! I know what they all like, have a word with

me afterwards! 33 is a good school. The thing I am proud of, hopefully

we have not breached a plateau, we have not gone down. We just want to

get a little better each week. Well this week you're going to get

essential with the rumba. How do you feel about the dance, do you like

it, not so sure? This was apparent that I was nervous about. When you

look at Oksana and I doing salsa, you do not immediately clutch for

the word smoulder and sexuality! But I have to say, without naming the

song yet, the choreography is brilliant. And as soon as Oksana

played the song for the first time... Did you get central? I fell

in love with the story that she wants us to tell. I really have

fallen in love with this idea in a way that I'm surprised by. I'm more

excited about telling this story of the dance than I ever have been

about the previous choreography. They all have got to choreograph

these numbers. Every week. And to your style and capabilities as well.

I love the story here, I feel really moved by it. I am excited now. And

men tend to do the rumba really well.

In past series we've had a Waltz-athon and a Quickstep-athon,

but this weekend our couples will be taking part in Strictly first

All the couples are going to take to the dance floor at the same time

to try to pick up extra points from the judges.

The Cha Cha Cha was your first dance.

Could this be where you get the extra points? For sure because that

was the first week and he has come a long way from there. If all else

fails I will just take my top of! Good luck with training this week -

Judge and Oksana everyone! Now, our pro dancers can

tell wonderful stories with nothing but their limbs,

but stick them in a photobooth Which broke eats the most?

Definitely Caulker. -- Gorka. Gorka is always eating. That has got to be

Gorka because he wants to keep his body in shape, so he eats healthy.

Which eats the most? Karen Clifton. She constantly has food. She always

has snacks. And we all carry snacks around as well just in case. She

never stops eating and it makes me sick because she has really good

abs. Who is the Boss list? I think it is between me and Oti. I would've

said me. I would have to say my wife Katya. It is Katya. She will tell

you right away if you're doing something wrong.

Last time we found out Joanne Clifton likes to eat bangers

But what fascinating titbits will be revealed this time?

Please welcome back our pros Natalie, Oksana

and Slovenia's finest export - Aljaz!

Once again our lovely viewers have been tweeting

First up we've got a question from Edward.

This is my sixth year watching Strictly, almost half my life.

What is your favourite dance and why?

I love Strictly so much and so does my best friend, Abbey. I love any

dance that if the music is what moves me, then any dance because it

is that story within the dance that I love, not necessarily the dance.

The storytelling. Absolutely, the right song and character and any

dance can come to life. I love ballroom and Latin. They're all so

amazing. The walls, they are all inspirational.

How long do the pro dancers have to train for their group routines?

Gorges children! Aljaz? It varies every week. We get pushed a lot

doing different styles on Strictly. We do a refresher of the routines

that we learn in August on the Monday of that week. So most times

you do not really know what is happening! You go on the dance floor

and try to look at someone in front of you! It is always really nice to

be dancing with incredible talent every time. Wherever you look

everyone is just so amazingly good. It just pushes you even more. I

think we all love doing the group dances. There have been some

incredible once this year. Time for another question, and this

one is from 14-year-old Billy. Oksana, where and when? I was six

years old in the Ukraine and my School offered a dance class once a

week and that is when I started. It was always my mother is my dream to

become a dancer so I became a dancer as soon as possible! And I loved it.

She must be so proud. Aljaz? I was three and a half in preschool and

all my friends went to play football and all the girls went dancing. So I

was like, wherever you go! Then I started to seriously compete when I

was five. Any videos, we need to get hold of them. Natalie? My next-door

neighbours introduced me to ballroom dancing 83. I used to watch my

brother and sister going to the prices and could not wait to do it.

So at five years old I was in Sydney and went to the local veterans club,

like a Rotary Club. Just this old school, ballroom classes and I fell

in love with it straightaway. If you weren't dancing -

what career would you choose? Because I started dancing really

young, I could not imagine doing anything else because I just love it

with all my heart. But if I had to I love animals so a veterinary nurse.

For a second in high school I loved running and I would probably maybe

do some athletics. I loved athletics. I had a bit of a weird

running style. We will continue this on the bus home! Thank you to anyone

who sent in a question. Join us tomorrow at 6.30 where we'll

chatting to dance off survivors Karen Hardy is back to break

down our couples choreography and we'll be boogying on down

in another Tunes on Tuesday. And stay tuned now on BBC2

for Celebrity Antiques Roadtrip - Give yourself a huge round

of applause. Your donations make

a difference to the lives...