Episode 26 Strictly - It Takes Two

Live from London, this is Strictly:

It Takes Two! Please welcome your

host, Zoe Ball!

Hello and welcome to It Takes Two!

It's still Halloween here, people!

Now, Strictly's Fright Night may be

over but we are all still reeling

from the weekend's spine-tingling

shocks.

Yes, Bruno returned

from the dead as Beetlejuice...

Katya caught Joe in

a giant spiderweb...

Debbie and Aston joined

the terrifying "Ten" Club.

But the Strictly Grim Reaper took

Simon and Karen as his next victims.

But it's OK - they are safe and well

in our Green Room right now!

CHEERING

Hello, darlings, looking divine.

They're joined tonight

by Captain Jonnie and Oti.

Ahoy there!

Plus, later tonight -

we will have not one but two

Strictly champions taking over

Choreography Corner.

You'll have to wait to find out who.

But even a dinner banquet

on the side of their American Smooth

was not enough to save Simon

and Karen this weekend.

Before we say our final farewells

to the man who invented

Pulled Pork (it's true),

here is their final dance.

MUSIC: All By Myself.

Simon and Karen, everyone!

That was a good last dance. Why,

why, why are you leaving us? We are

gutted. How are you feeling now?

I

feel great, to be honest. As I said

on Sunday it has been the most

amazing time. It is the right time

for us to go. I thought if I can get

to week three I will be delighted. I

got two weeks six. It is all down to

her.

She is good, isn't she? But we

must not tell her, it will go to her

head! A Sweeney Todd inspired

American smooth, such fun and

frolics. We loved the outfits. How

much joy was it to dance to this

one?

It was a joy. We had a real

laugh doing it. When we started on

Wednesday it was a little tense. But

we just enjoyed it more and more and

more. I think of all the dancers,

probably including the Charleston,

we got into character. We had a

laugh.

It is Halloween, you cannot

help but get into character. We must

talk about when you were waiting for

the judges' comments, how dry was

that chicken?

Very dry! You should

never eat the props. They said we

will give you some meat pies and

chicken legs and you can eat it. I

said I will not let food go to

waste. I took a bite out of it. I

did not notice how big of a bite I'd

took. Some people were disgusted but

I am sorry, you should always eat

all of your food. I was not going to

let that go to waste, no matter who

is talking. The more I was chewing

the more I was blocking out the

judges.

So much love for the look.

Six weeks, we finally got you into a

wig, Simon. Look at those diggers,

please tell us you kept them. Fans

at home were suggesting there was a

bit of a Harold Steptoe.

I like

that!

Noel Fielding.

I will take

that.

And zombie Poldark which was

my favourite. Some people talk about

the curse of the samba but this year

it seems to be the curse of Tom

Jones. Last week someone went out

dancing to Tom Jones and the same

happened to you. Hopefully this

week, no Tom Jones. Is there any Tom

Jones? None, thank goodness! How was

the Simon Rimmer off as it has been

named.

It was all right. It was our

third one. It will be renamed that.

We would have been disappointed

without the dance-off.

You look at

everyone else's faces.

Before it

happened, we said to Mollie and AJ,

at least if the red light goes on

you will look great with your

outfits. I thought there was no way

they would be in the dance-off.

I

know, it was a shocker for all of

us. You two are such a joyous

partnership. Shall we enjoy your

Strictly story? It is a good eve.

How could you not want to be part of

this?

You will be dancing with

Karen!

We are dancing a paso doble.

I

thought you came across with sheer

determination. A good job, well

done.

We are dancing the waltz to a

song called You'll Never Walk Alone.

Every time I hear that song it sends

a shiver down my spine.

You were

strong and elegant.

Placing your

feet correctly and then it happened.

I got the whole wrong at the end. I

let Karen down, sorry.

This is a real challenge.

My

aggressive cap side is coming out.

Now she is biting me.

You did a nice

basic quick step.

I thought it was

quite lumpy.

Who are you going to

save?

Simon and Karen.

We live to

fight another day.

I am having the

best time teaching Simon how to

samba.

Sexy, sexy, gyrating with my

hips. For Karen, it is the funniest

thing she has ever seen.

You need to

be more Benidorm than Brazil.

Lovely

try, well done.

The Charleston is

loads and loads of fun. You cannot

help but have a smile on your face

when you do it.

I thought it was

massively entertaining.

The recipe

was missing some ingredients.

This

week we are advancing an American

smooth the news waltz.

In the short

time I have been doing this, I can

see how much I have improved on one

hand and have a little bit of belief

and all of that is down to Karen.

That was not an American smooth! It

was an American horror story!

Who

are you going to save?

Mollie and

AJ.

Mollie and AJ.

Mollie and AJ.

It

has been the most amazing experience

ever. But the biggest thanks to

Karen who has just been amazing.

It

has been a privilege.

APPLAUSE

Big, big love the two of you. You

got to be Buzz light year and you

got to dance to You'll Never Walk

Alone. Is there a highlight, can you

choose one moment?

One was obviously

You'll Never Walk Alone and the

effect it had on people, I think

that shows what performance of any

description can do and people still

talk about that. That was our second

dance. The Charleston, we laughed

and laughed all of that week. And I

am dead proud of what we did last

week. It was really good fun. There

are so many. We just had so much

fun. It is hard to pick out one

moment which stands out. It has been

amazing.

Karen, what will you do,

you are losing your personal chef?

I'm going to live with you and your

wife. I will hide in your kitchen

and I will come out in the

afternoons and at night and eat.

She

is not even kidding, people! The

strange Catwoman! Could we ask you

to show us samba Simon one more

time? It is what the people need.

Here he comes, people!

CHEERING

That is what the people want. You

said you want to get to Blackpool. I

note in -- I know Tim Lovejoy is

devastated. I will take you up

there. Who do you want to win?

Gemma. Strictly is very southern

biased. There has never been a

northern winner. Northern Powerhouse

all the way!

Karen hot lips, we know

how people feel about you two. Simon

and Karen, everyone!

CHEERING

It is getting tough.

Now, I'm sure we can

all agree that this weekend's

show was a Thriller.

But with reports of the Strictly

studios haunted by Zombies,

Vampires and Anton du Beke

in a rabbit costume,

we sent one brave camera crew

along to investigate.

It is Halloween, my darling, my

favourite time of the year.

Morning!

Morning! I am scared.

Happy

Halloween!

Love this Halloween. That was my

goal when I came to this show.

Everyone says, I want to make it to

Halloween. That is good.

The props

are fun.

We have tails.

What more do

you need?

I have my Frankenstein.

When they said we will hang you from

the top of a dragon, that sounds

amazing. No problem at all!

Are you

scared of the paso doble?

No, it is

scared of me.

Hare and make up on

Strictly is always amazing but

Halloween week is Herath costumes

with bells on.

He has glitter in his

hair. Amazing.

These look amazing,

these lashes.

There are people here

who I don't recognise. You don't

know who they are because they look

so amazing.

I have literally just

done my make up. It is not finished

yet. Now it is time for the head

transformation. It is scary because

I don't recognise myself and you

guys will not either. In about five

minutes.

I have seen the famous to

Strictly ghost around the building.

Has anyone seen my bed sheet?

Five

minutes until the spooky

spectacular!

There is nothing

scarier than me, darlings!

LAUGHTER

It is Halloween and it is a tragedy!

Whoever has to go.

This is it.

Now, it may be Halloween (still)

but that doesn't mean we can't throw

in the odd treat for you.

So, for this week's

Choreography Corner -

we've lined up two members

of Strictly Come Dancing Royalty.

Not only have they both

lifted the Glitterball -

they are Strictly's

original power couple.

It's the rather brilliant

Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova.

# I'm just a soul whose intentions

are good, oh Lord, please do let me

be misunderstood.

# Looking like a truce divisor,

feeling like a little kid. I'm still

standing, yeah, yeah, yeah.

CHEERING

Oh, give it up for Darren and Lilia!

Welcome back. Darren, can you still

do that with the leg? ... These days

I am built more for comfort than

speed. Does it bring back happy

memories?

Itoje does, it feels like

we never left.

Neither of you have

strayed far, have you?

36 live shows

in different countries. 24 of them

as a creative producer, 21 in

Ireland last year and we are just

about to start the next series. It

is all crazy, but you're still part

of the brand, it is amazing.

Thank

you for squeezing us in.

Starting at the top

of the leader board with Debbie

and her monster Giovanni.

The Judges loved their Charleston,

with Shirley even handing

over her own priceless "Queen

of Latin crown" - was it worthy

of all the accolades?

She is magnificent. I love watching

her. She is a performance, actress

and dancer. It takes quite a few

ingredients to make a dance complete

and I think she is outstanding. In

this clip, we will see her doing

this amazing left. People might

think it is always the boys who

struggled to lift the girl, but it

is 50-50, she has a strong core and

prepares herself well.

I think she

is great. Good work.

Mollie

and AJ next, who found

themselves in the bottom two

after their devilish dha-cha-cha.

Shirley wants her to work on issues

with her core and the way

she carries her weight.

Why is that so important

in the Latin dances?

The core is the centre of your body

and it has to be collected in, like

a drawstring, bringing everything in

sight, then your body is in the

right place. The other thing for me

is the transition between straight

legs. Then they that is coming

through needs to flex and give the

movement through the body and for me

that is missing and it also sends

her weight backwards, it is much

easier to demonstrate that. Demo

timer!

The best in the business.

This is the first time we have

danced together in 18 months. If you

imagine, I bring in my core and use

my hamstrings and my body weight is

with my partner and as I move, we

have a connection. Mollie is

somewhere here, the weight is in

their heels and then everything

becomes a bit of a swing and out of

sway with the rest of the body. It

has to be in a line.

Nice and tight.

I know what you mean.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. Lovely

demonstration.

Joe and Katya's foxtrot next,

Darcey praised Joe's ability

to speed up on his pivots,

and noted that this was a "very

difficult foxtrot" to execute.

Were you impressed too?

I think Joe is brilliant. Katya is

such an outstanding choreographer,

she has made every routine

brilliant. I am a big fan and I hope

they do well. The foxtrot, the thing

I loved, it was contemporary, like

this little role, it look simple but

it is hard. Katya is a small girl,

to pull his body weight across the

floor, he has to be 100% committed.

He did that. His stride across the

floor is magnificent, normally we

see ballroom professional boys

taking the ladies across the floor

but for the male celebrity to do

that is impressive.

Good work, Joe!

Davood and Nadiya's rumba next.

Craig said he could sit at home

and watch their dance every day

but criticised the lack of basic

Rumba content in the routine.

What's your take?

I completely agree. It was a great

concept. The dance was full of great

emotion, but the choreography for me

let it down. He did not actually

move off the spot for the first 20

seconds. It was five basics away

from a really strong score of eight.

I know he can dance. He has great

physicality and greater movement. I

am waiting for the standout dance

from these guys and I know it is in

there. We have to have everything,

content, choreography, visuals, the

lot.

And finally Ruth and Anton's

Bewitched quickstep.

Bruno was bothered by Ruth's frame,

which is, according to him,

a reoccurring problem for her.

How vital is it to get

the frame right in the quickstep?

I think he is right. It is a major

problem for her. She needs to work

on it, she will come across the same

problem, in Latin dancers you need a

strong frame. In the second, we will

see her going into promenade and

together with Anton, she will go

across, here they go and we will see

how much her frame starts to wobble

in comparison to Anton's who does

not move at all. She is going up and

down. I think it is demonstration

time!

Darren is preparing himself

there. I would like to point out,

this is for Ruth and for her frame.

She gets into the frame and it looks

beautiful and as soon as she starts

to move, the whole thing wobbles.

She needs to use these muscles and

really lock it into place, lock her

frame into position and whether she

is in promenade or moving, it will

stay in place.

But!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. -- beautiful.

Will you come back tomorrow?

Darren and Lilia, everyone!

A little-known fact

about Strictly Pro Dancers now.

There's only one thing

they love more than dancing

and that is a game of Bingo.

It's true.

With that in mind, we sent them down

the local bingo hall

and got them to spill all of their

deepest, darkest secrets.

House!

Good evening Strictly fans,

eyes down because it is time for

Ballroom Bingo! Knock knock knock at

the door, it is number four, which

professional would you most like to

have round for dinner?

I would say

Giovanni, because he is just

gorgeous, isn't he?

Kevin, he makes

me laugh all the time.

I will have

to say Karen, because if I said any

of the others I would be in big

trouble.

He makes me laugh like no

one else.

I love having aromatic

dinner with my Alijaz.

Look at her.

I will do a little tick next to it

because I'd never want to put any

permanent marker on her. Who is the

fittest professional?

Anton. He is

always looking dapper and he does

not look a day over 50.

I have to

say it is Kevin, have you seen his

muscles, his tank appears like Greek

God.

Gorka. He is in the gym all the

time.

Gorka, whatever, we all know

that you go to the gym. It is

definitely me! I know you would like

to be you, but is Gorka.

Are you

seriously asking me this? There is

no question. It is me.

That is sure

a lot. Remember, keep spinning!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

Ahoy there, me 'arties!

If you're looking for trouble

makers, look no further.

Shiver me timbers -

it's Jonnie and Oti!

PARROT: "Pieces of Eight!"

I did like it but it lacked body

action from me.

It was very flat

footed and I don't think it is a

dance that will suit you.

You work

hard, I can see the concentration.

Very good effort. Well done.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

Jonnie and Oti, everyone!

You both look adorable.

You told Claud that your goal

on Strictly was to get to Halloween

and dress up as a Pirate

- mission accomplished!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

How was that Char

Char Chaaar for you?

I thought it was my best dance. I

thought I really nailed it. It

didn't go to plan.

On social media, you said that

you only managed to dance half

of Oti's brilliant routine -

what went wrong?

It all went wrong very quickly. I

think it all started when I dropped

the coin. The prop.

We all said, ...

What goes through your head

in moments like that?

How do you get your partner back?

You just keep going. You have to

keep going in the hope that they

will catch up. I always say that I

feel really bad when something like

this happens because it is my job to

take care of him and make sure that

he has that. I felt like a bad

teacher. That is how you feel. It is

my job to take care of him. I have

to make sure that he is amazing on

Saturday.

I feel sad now.

The judges obviously

have a lot of faith in Jonnie's

ability to bounce back

from the performance -

but you had your joint lowest

scores of the series.

Were you a bit worried?

Yes. It was

not the best dance, I did not

executed as well as I should have.

It is times like that where you

really do need the voters. I think

it was really nice to know that they

saved us because we really needed

saving!

I didn't think it was that

bad!

The judges did.

They did not

like anyone on Saturday night.

Social Media was "awash" with love

for the pair of you again

at the weekend.

My personal favourite message

was one from Jonnie's mum, Linda,

who wrote: 'You made it to Halloween

and got to dress as a pirate!!

You had a great day darling boy!!

Proud as ever and loved

the rugged look x mum x'.

I could fall over and she would

still be happy!

Your dad is a super

fan.

I grew up watching it with my

dad and I remember when I was

younger seen it on television. This

is the first time he has given me

confidence about this stuff, saying

it is not that bad! He obviously did

not see the Cha Cha Cha.

We have

been watching you in the training

rooms and we noticed you could off

to a rocky start last week.

On the

first day of training, I am happy, I

think Danny is finding his...

Danny?

I am sorry to do that to you, it is

so funny!

So awkward. Bless you. A

new right away. I ran away. I did

not go back to training. I was so

sorry!

She is forgiven. We move on

to the salsa. The great thing about

salsa, lifts, you love lifts,

because then you don't have to

dance. Less steps to forget. What

are you thinking of this one? She

cannot get over it.

Come on, Joanne!

Touche! Good luck. Don't lose your

faith. Jonnie and Oti!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

That's it for tonight.

A big thank you to all my guests.

Join us tomorrow at 6.30

where we'll be chatting to Ruth

and Anton and Joe and Katya.

Plus, Darren and Lilia return

to Choreography Corner and we'll be

dusting off our trusty Jukebox

to reveal this weekend's music!

Until then, goodnight!

APPLAUSE.