Episode 36 Strictly - It Takes Two

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello, and welcome to It Takes Two!

What a weekend!

Eight couples left

in the competition,

which means one thing -

Blackpool week

officially starts here!

ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS.

But sadly one couple have

just missed out on that

Tower Ballroom magic.

Yes, Ruth and Anton were eliminated

from the competition.

Sad times!

Will be talking to them and giving

them love in a moment.

Helping them go out

with a bang tonight -

it's Susan and Kevin!

What a tango this weekend.

Plus, joining us to give an overview

of the series so far -

it's last year's champ,

Ore!

But first, some things are just

meant to go together,

and from the start, Ruth and Anton

were the perfect pairing.

Before we say goodbye,

let's take a look at them having

"heaps" of fun in their last dance.

# I'm losing everything

# It's like the sun going down on

me.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Ruth and Anton, everyone!

So joyous.

Recovered from that rugby scrum?

We didn't plan any of that. We were

walking to the dance floor saying,

we haven't planned anything. And I

thought, that's why I love you,

Anton du Beke. I didn't know

everybody else would pile on.

Very

cute with Debbie on to the top at

the very end.

I thought it might

kill you. That wouldn't be good.

Anton never moved again.

I was

clenching, don't worry.

You have

been one of our favourite pairings.

One of?

I have to remain impartial.

I am fine, but very disappointed,

mostly for this man because I would

love to do a ballroom dance in the

Tower Ballroom, but it wasn't to be.

I didn't do a good foxtrot.

I

thought you did a good foxtrot. I

don't think they understood it.

Traditionally we have slows in the

foxtrot and recovered that with the

first step. And then we did a

selection of weaving. Then the fall

away, look at that. And then we have

a little fall away, more fall away.

And then a weave and then fall away.

And you did they locked backwards as

well.

Are we going backwards now?

Let's go that way instead. You did

look beautiful. It was a special

tune for you. If you are going to go

out, go out in the arms of the King

of ballroom.

I did love the hats and

canes at the top. Unfortunately the

judges didn't talk about that much,

apart from saying it was out of

time.

They don't know what they are

talking about. Most of them can

barely see.

I noticed some jazz and

the Keynes. You have done it all. It

was a dance-off of foxtrot. It's

proving to be as tricky as the judge

etcher this year.

The judges don't

understand it. It is the hardest of

all the ballroom dances because

there is a simplicity of

choreography. Or there should be. It

is supposed to flow elegantly across

the four. You don't want to

overcomplicate it with intricate

choreography. Then it becomes a bit

like the warts. It's very difficult

to get the smoothness and elegance

of the dance. -- a bit like the

waltz. It but it is very stupid.

From the very beginning the whole

nation was hoping you two would be

paired up.

I was the whole nation!

Look at the magic that followed.

Here is your strictly story.

I have

to keep pinching myself. I monster

come dancing. I feel like a

princess.

You will be swapping

Heymann with... Anton. I can't

believe I could have been this

lucky.

We are doing the waltz first.

Lovely.

Look at me. Don't look at

me. Look at me a bit.

You have this

wonderful aura about you. You had a

lot of mistakes but you are very

graceful.

Ruth is amazing. She is a

natural charleston dancer.

The line

is fast.

Just a bit faster.

We had

no idea you were such a good

flapper.

You nailed it today!

Left,

right, close.

I love the rumba. It's

sensual, tents and sexy. I hope I

can do all that and remember the

steps.

I thought the rumba was very

stilted and it lacked action.

It has

to have heat, it's a Latin dance.

And your timing went right off.

I'm

still loving my Strictly experience

despite being towards the bottom of

the Leaderboard. Tango is just

walking very quickly to music, being

a bit intense. I can walk. Can I be

intense? I will give it a go.

I felt

you were in the moment. Great

improvement.

Well done, amazing.

This is my happy tango face. Anton

has told me he wants it to be like

an old style samba. I don't really

know what a new style samba is.

Lots

of content, you are on the wrong

foot here and there, but who cares.

I loved the comedy, but I didn't

love the technique.

I can't believe

I made it to Halloween week.

Thrilled.

The counting things seems

to be foxing her somewhat.

You have

made a wonderful improvement, so be

proud.

It lacked any style and I

thought it was too heavy and too

sloppy.

I can't please Craig.

I

didn't agree with everything he

said.

I love the paso doble. I am a

fearless and fearless woman in this.

My husband can say I can be quite

fierce. I will just think of him.

Ruth, you represent absolute joy. I

have never seen a paso doble so

humorous. If you can hold onto a

narrative like that, I want to watch

it every time.

Learning to dance is

everything I thought it would be.

This is nice.

It's fantastic.

I felt

like you were trotting like a horse.

Sadly you were slightly out of your

depth.

Who are you going to save?

Jonnie and 20. -- Jonnie and Oti.

He

has made this so much fun and I hope

we will be friends for a long time.

You are amazing.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

We have never seen a couple laugh so

much at the joy of it. Eight dances

that you've learned.

I'm so thrilled

to have got this far. I didn't think

I would make it past week two or

three.

That far?!

He is the most

wonderful teacher. We laughed a lot,

he's so patient and he didn't tell

me for once, even when I cried. He

made me a cup of tea, and it got to

the point where he just brought a

hankie and I cooked it in my skirt.

It has been wonderful watching your

confidence grow. -- tucked it. Your

biggest supporters, Eamonn and Jack

have been there every week.

They

will get some decent dinners now I'm

back. I said in my speech, and they

can't put everything in, to have

them there every single week is a

big commitment from your family.

Especially Jack, he's only 15, but

he loved it. He was quite emotional

on Saturday.

You showed me a message

she wrote you, which was beautiful.

Only one can go on to win now. You

have made some amazing friends. Who

is getting your support?

They will

all get my support. I'm not going to

say who I want to win because I love

them all and think they all doing

incredibly well.

That's not what you

said yesterday.

I'm not saying it. I

think Debbie has a very good chance.

Flexi McGee. Please tell me you will

continue experimenting with and

wearing those wigs. And love to

Eamonn

wearing those wigs. And love to

Eamonn, maybe next year he will

follow in your footsteps!

Give it up for Ruth

and Anton everyone!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

Now, this year's series has already

been full of surprises.

We've had incredible performances,

high scores and shock dance-offs.

But it's still fair to say that this

year's champ is too early to call.

So, we've bringing in a man to help

make sense of it all.

It's time for Ore's Overview.

It is the reigning champion.

Ore, everyone!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

It is super smashing to see you.

Lovely to be back on the air. It's

weird without Joanne, but it's nice.

We will make a little puppet.

Have you been enjoying

the class of 2017?

It's weird when you first watch and

you are not involved.

It's

different, but I'm loving it, like a

super fan all over again. All those

emotions on the sofa on a Saturday

night, curled up with my blanket and

my tissues in hand. It never goes

away.

Still weeping.

This time last year you and Jo had

just danced a rumba and were placed

fourth on the leaderboard.

Proof that things can

still change - right?

I remember that week so vividly

because we had been in the dance of

the week before. It was just a case

of, get to Blackpool, no matter the

score, just get to Blackpool. It was

relief. And things can change after

that. We are just past halfway. The

journey is still there, the glass is

half full. Loads still to come.

I know you've been following this

series very closely -

so let's talk about some

of your findings.

Let's have a look at the overall

Leaderboard. We have the remaining

couples here. Even though Susan and

Kevin and Jonnie and Oti are at the

bottom, it is not very distant in

points to the top considering we've

had more than eight weeks of dances.

But Alexander and Debbie have

consistently been excellent and the

scores relate to that. -- Alexandra.

Everybody has been awesome.

So, only three boys left

in the competition.

Let's start with the combined

highest scorer of the three - Joe.

What have you noticed?

Joe has been fantastic. Consistent

all-rounder. He opened up with the

drive, which was fantastic. He had

to the rumba, which bizarrely was

the same time last series last year

as me, and he is mirroring me well.

-- he opened up with the jive. Their

charleston was really good, 36,

really good. He has some tens as

well. His last three weeks have been

in the 30s. Consistency from Mr

McFadden.

Shirley has

called him the dark

horse of the competition.

Do you agree with her?

I say no. It's not a dark course,

using the top three. He's a bright

horse, he's a unicorn. He has been

great.

Moving onto the comeback

kid - Davood.

When he was in the bottom two I said

not to worry because remember Ore.

The high-scoring charleston, I get

distracted by his pecs.

He's a

beautiful boy.

I'm amazed by the

soap actors because of the hours

they spend doing their show. And

then to pull this out, 38 on the

charleston was fantastic. And part

of the ten club as well. He's a bit

more of a ballroom boy. I don't

think he has had 30 in Latin. If

anything is holding him back, it's

probably that. But with his wingspan

as broad as that, he can do

anything.

Wingspan, never heard that

before. Like it.

Let's move onto our final gentleman

- Mr Jonnie Peacock.

He's only 24. He is still so young,

but so much work. He hasn't reached

the heights of some of the others

and has only been in the dirty club

a couple of times, so at this point

he has to start improving his

scores. -- the 30 club. But that was

a reminder of what that guy can do.

It was absolutely awesome. And you

can see the thriller on his face. Do

you think he has something to prove

in Blackpool?

He has two bounce back

but if you're going to rise to the

occasion, it is going to happen in

Blackpool.

OK, we will discuss the

ladies in a moment.

So we've hit half time

mark in Ore's Overview,

but there's plenty more

to get through tonight.

He's the champion! We have a big

Friday coming up.

Before we do, let's

take a look at all the

behind the scenes

action from Strictly at

the weekend.

Medic!

Another week, another dance.

Made it

halfway and no one is safe.

Any one

of us could be in that dance-off.

I

just got to make it to Blackpool.

Let's do this!

I was spun around

like a rag doll this week, so

hopefully I will survive.

It would

be a recipe for disaster if it

doesn't go right. There was one

where you through the hat at me and

it was like a frisbee coming at me.

Tango is passionate and intense and

I didn't think I would get here,

never mind Blackpool, so to get to

Blackpool would be brilliant,

wouldn't it?

The make up always

makes me feel confident.

He's

getting his body out.

If he comes on

with a teacher, I would be worried.

Set the scene for Blackpool.

White

sandy beaches, endless sunshine.

None of that.

I think this is very

Blackpool.

If we get to Blackpool,

we will get fish and chips on the

pier and go on the rides on the

pleasure Beach. We need to get to

Blackpool. Come on!

Seal is here and

he has requested for me to dance,

which is a lovely thing for him to

do. It is lovely when singers can

dance.

It is the boss here, Al, who

keeps a file in check. We have a big

team of people who we work with.

We

have a big team who are with us all

series.

Greg is the one who gets all

the limelight.

Yes, it is a bit like

having your own lap dog around the

place.

OK, here we go. Ladies and

gentlemen, five-minute!

Showtime.

Who is going to make it through to

Blackpool?

I found the foxtrot very

hard this week.

This is Strictly

Come Dancing.

That was lovely. We

were having a good old castle there.

I'm back here with Ore!

So we've talked about the boys,

but let's face it, there's a lot

of Girl Power going on this year -

five ladies left.

Fans might be interested

to know, at this stage last

year, it was flipped -

five boys and only two girls!

Bringing the sass, girls!

What can you tell us

about our lovely

ladies?

Great to see the five of them still

bringing the girl power. Debbie is

at the top of the leaderboard and

she has been awesome all series,

along with Alexandra. Only six

points between them so it is tied.

Shall we play a little game? Ooh, we

have spent the money.

Debbie has

managed to bag herself seven tens.

And Alexander had eight. So even in

the tens, it is really tight.

So

could lovely Flexi McGee do it?

I

loved that Ginger Rogers tribute

with Giovanni. She has been top of

the leaderboard three times in a row

before she did this dance this

weekend and I don't think anybody

has done that before. No one has

ever had a perfect 40 in week seven.

So the girl has been breaking

records.

I know, she is smashing

those records. Let's talk about

Alexandra. She is the Queen. So

incredible this weekend.

I needed

another cold shower after that. I

have at least three a day.

And she

is going to be doing a Quickstep

that Black broke. I think that will

be awesome. What can you tell it

about that?

Believe it or not, last

time they only had seven, so they

had been top drawer every time. I

think jive, cha-cha, Argentine

Tango, consistently high. So you

might say Baldry and you may need to

bring it but I think she has

ability, Alexandra. The Quickstep.

With the bounce. It is going to be

something else. So Susan has been

incredible. She is working so hard

and has a massive following. It is

so exciting.

Thanks for coining the

I am going to do at Ore, Susan.

People haven't given me enough jip

for that! Everyone has loved Susan

bringing the entertainment factor.

She is all about jiving in a

glittery overalls. That it was a

serious moment. So even though they

haven't necessarily scored as highly

as the rest of them, they are

obviously getting audience back into

out and people really love seeing

Kevin and Susan Susan and seeing

them in Blackpool again, that guy is

in love with that place.

That is the

BT started for the weekend. Let's

talk about Mollie to. Her reaction

said it all. Bless her. The judges

differ quite a hard time at the

weekend, so it is good to see.

Yell,

and it is so hard to bounce back

from being in the dance-off and I

think she would have been

crestfallen had that been three

weeks in a row so this is the chance

now, you have been given a reprieve

so I want to see Mollie and AJ bring

it in Blackpool as well. I notice

the Charleston. That was the one

where I was a weird werewolf...

It

was an amazing marriage of styles.

It worked so well I nearly dropped.

Let's talk about Gemma. She had a

hard time at the beginning. Can she

get back into it?

She absolutely can

because if you remember when they

did their paso doble and it is that

channelling that they really need to

bring in Blackpool because she was

so fierce. They just need to

remember.

That face.

Look at the

intensity that you can see. I know

that they are loving training in

Manchester and you can see to that

performance just how much chemistry

that they have. Even though they

have had seven times... 12 times.

Forget that. So that is the

statistic to remember.

Before we go,

I had to wish you good luck because

this man, the champion, will be

dancing again for your delegation,

people. And he will be singing a

Gene Kelly number four Children in

Need.

I can't wait, but it is all

for Children in Need, and this is me

getting behind it so whatever you

can do to fundraisers, do it.

Hopefully see you for another

surprise on Friday night.

Good luck,

Ore. It is going to be incredible!

Time now to meet my final guests.

Their emotional tango

lit up the dance

floor and ticked all

the right boxes on

Saturday night - it's

our firecrackers, Susan

and Kevin.

MUSIC PLAYS: Firework by Katy Perry.

You did every single step at

precisely the right time.

Your

posture is the main thing that

bothers me, and your face did look

in pain.

I think you'd asked

everything right from your heart

today. From week one to this one,

you have made huge strides.

It's Susan and Kevin!

Forget about fireworks -

Baby, you're a

tango dancer!

That was amazing stuff.

How was opening the show?

It was so exciting. We've never

opened the show before. I was in a

beautiful dress and my make-up was

extraordinary. Kevin was in his

tales, which is my favourite look.

And it was wonderful. Just opening

the show with a tangle. You didn't

ask for more from Strictly Come

Dancing.

We could see you

getting teary - when

did the emotion hit you?

It was going really well and the

audience were starting to go and buy

the end of it, you could almost see

the emotion bubble up.

It is a

strange thing because I haven't

danced before it and so I did not

expect to feel emotions dancing. I

am a very emotional person. Kevin

knows that. I don't think there is

anything wrong with being emotional

because that is what is dance is. We

were watching the Remembrance Day

dance and that was emotional and I

have been taken aback by how it is

affecting me, it is actually the act

of dancing. It is a very emotional

thing. I am not going to stop doing

it because I think it is quite nice.

It really is. I anti-ring up,

watching it at home. Kevin, you

promised us a proper tangle. You

must have been so happy that Susan

did so brilliantly.

It was a real

gamble for us because we have been

doing light and fun and joy us where

we can kind of smile our way through

all the time and this was a real

gamble, doing something serious. It

was all content. There was no

gimmick to it so the only thing the

judges could look at and comment on

was her dancing and techniques or I

said last week that I was adamant

that I want people to see Susan for

the dancer that she is and not just

somebody fun on the show and she

went out and showed it to everybody

and I am so proud of her. She is a

dancer.

She is a dancer!

CHEERING

And strong comments from the judges.

Bruno said he expected

you to go off but you

did every step at exactly

the precise time.

How did it feel to prove him wrong?

I think Bruno was slightly confused

by me for several weeks and I didn't

feel like he was getting me. I don't

think he was entirely sure. And

Craig, every week I am chipping away

at him. I think if the show was a

year-long, I would get a ten. If I

had another year with Craig, I would

get there.

So you're going to

Blackpool. How excited are you about

that?

It is wonderful. It was

difficult in the Results Show

because we were second and when

you're in that position and the red

light goes on someone, you don't

want to celebrate because somebody

is going to the dance-off, so we

were really pleased but it was quite

difficult because Ruth and Anton

have been so wonderful on the show.

It is horrible when you see that

happening. But, yeah, Blackpool,

baby!

I'm a sticky back in time. --

Well, let me cast you're

mind back to Tuesday

the 19th of September

at

precisely 10.52am,

when you tweeted this...

I know you are a woman of your

words. Which is funny because we

have Carl year from the tattooed...

Are you going to do this?

Yes, I am

going to get him to write I love

green is the and put it on my best

foot which is my right foot. I'm

going to get it done after the show

is over. I love Grimsby on my foot,

as I promised.

I promise that I

would get this turned into I love

Grimsby on my hand as well.

It is

amazing. Very quickly, you have

waited five years to get this

concept on the show.

Yes, we are

doing Strictly ballroom and I have

wanted to do this. I have a very

specific idea in my head and I have

been pitching it for five years. I

know it is risky to do it on TV and

I am not sure about it and they said

this year if we got to Blackpool we

would be allowed to do it and we are

doing it.

CHEERING

Good luck, Susan and Kevin, or

should I say Fran and Scott. It is

going to be amazing.

Join us tomorrow at 6.30,

where we'll chatting

to Joe & Katya and Gemma &

Aljaz.

All that, plus Boagy is back!

Erin Boag will be casting her

eye over our couples

choreography.