Episode 46 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!

What a weekend it was.

We witnessed our first

ever Paso-doble-thon.

Flexi McGee lived up to her name,

with a split-terrific

Argentine tango.

And the man once dubbed

Rollercoaster Joe, by us,

scaled a skyscraper to top

the leaderboard for

the very first time!

CHEERING.

But, sadly, we had to say

goodbye to another couple.

And, like Meghan and Harry, these

two were a match made in heaven.

There they are!

Who can forget the moment

Susan met Kevin?

We'll be looking back

at their love story in just a mo!

Also on the show tonight.

Another pair of timeless romantics.

It's Davood and Nadiya!

And here to settle an old score,

it's our latest Pro

Challenger, Katya Jones!

But now, it's time to honour one

of the great Strictly partnerships.

If you ask us, they go together

like Fred and Ginger.

Before we say our final

farewells, here is Susan

and Kevin's last dance.

# Let's dance the last dance.

# Tonight.

CHEERING.

Susan and Kevin, everyone!

CHEERING.

Crazy amount of love for you. I am

so sorry to see your journey end,

too soon, how are you feeling?

Absolutely fine, we had a lovely

time, a lovely dance on Saturday

night. We have gone. I have great

memories. I am doing the tour so we

haven't stopped dancing yet.

Not done with him yet.

You said it had been

your favourite week.

Can you take comfort in the fact

you left doing a dance you loved?

I love old Hollywood movies, it was

Fred and Ginger, an elegant dance.

We haven't done lifts since the

second week. A beautiful change

after tango and passive.

Back to being happy. What do you

call those lifts like that?

Progressive twirling...

He doesn't know.

Oi, oi, sailor!

Whose idea was it to pop

a little kiss into the mix?

It was his idea before he says

otherwise!

It was my idea for a kiss on the

cheek. It started as a kiss on the

hand, then it's the sort of moved to

a peck on the cheek. Someone might

have turned their faith at the last

second.

Everyone has been talking about it.

We have.

The judges couldn't fault

the entertainment value,

but felt the performance lacked

technique.

What do you say to that?

I think that their comments are

always fair and taken on board. We

did try really hard on technique and

I thought we did better this week.

As always, I appreciate and love the

judges like they are family.

They kind of are like families,

crazy and dysfunctional.

Let's talk about the dance-off now.

It was your first time

in the bottom two.

After ten weeks, that's

quite an achievement.

What was it like to hear

your name called out?

It was a close one. When our names

were called out, I thought we had a

chance! Alexandra!

When I said that on the show, it's

because you have two at knowledge

Alexandra is incredible. An

incredible rumba. We did our best,

if we danced as well as we could but

really, someone compared it to a

racehorse versus a Shetland pony!

How it might have looked. We thought

it was possibly our time at the

weekend going into the

quarterfinals. A beautiful last

dance to do. The American Smooth is

gorgeous, a classic.

We enjoyed the week. We had a really

nice week, we did not feel stressed.

We made it to Blackpool and exceeded

expectations. We don't feel pressure

to make the quarterfinal because we

had done a good job. Wien -- We

enjoyed the week.

It showed on your faces.

Well, here's just a fraction

of the online reaction.

Dawn French tweeted this.

Whaa!

Joyous to hear from her.

So much support. It has been

overwhelming. How many people have

voted for us. I am trying not to...

You haven't yet but I can't promise

you

won't.

Well, you'd better pick up

that glittery tissue,

box because it's time to look back

at your Strictly Story.

There was nothing in this world I

have wanted more than to be on

Strictly.

It is Kevin!

I feel like I have won the Lottery.

It is nice to be wanted.

The Viennese waltz is graceful, one

thing that has never been used to

describe me.

Weird but wonderful. The leg sprung

up like a mushroom but you did well.

He is patient, kind...

He is like my little brother.

I found you guilty of having too

much fun.

I loved it.

The sound is fast and difficult.

I promised Susan I would push her.

100% performance, I loved it.

I don't think we have ever seen

anything quite like that.

We made Craig Revel Horwood smile,

better than anything.

We do have a brilliant time in the

training room.

You did it and you did it well.

A personal best.

If I had a dream of what it might be

like on Strictly come it would be

Saturday.

Susan is an awesome dancer. As soon

as I said that, she got it right

every time since.

Technically, not great, but I love

your energy.

I love you and I think you bring the

cheeky to the cheeky cha-cha.

Joint bottom.

It gives something to work on.

Exactly.

It lacked grace, elegance, not your

best.

We will pick ourselves up.

Comeback jiving.

Despite having a law degree I cannot

manage to step forward on the

correct foot.

This is definitely your dance.

You are back.

Smashed it.

It is all sharp and precise. If we

get this right, we could be in

Blackpool.

It is like the Emerald city.

Love the way you channelled the

dramatic persona.

You danced everything from your

heart today, you have come huge

strides.

I loved every second of it.

Dancing is about doing something

magical and, to me, that is what

Susan does every week.

This is Kevin Clifton, dream dance,

I have two nail this.

At times it looked like a paso doble

that shrunk in the wash.

You had some nice styling, well

done.

Our first lifts. These are graceful

and elegant lifts.

There was gapping, your feet never

closed, your legs had a mind of

their own in the last lift.

I was like much more technique

today.

-- I would like.

Judges, time to decide.

Alexandra and Gorka.

Alexandra and

Gorka.

You have been the epitome of joy and

happiness which makes you a

beautiful dancer.

This has been the best experience of

my life, to dance with this

handsome, handsome man.

CHEERING.

So much love.

You are hanging in there.

I am all right.

So many memorable moments there.

Wonder Woman, Mother of Dragons,

Painter and Decorator.

Can you even pick out a highlight?

I think definitely Wonder Woman and

the quick step I think were

incredible dancers but genuinely

everyday, and this is why Monday is

quite difficult because we would

have been starting another dance,

though.

I'm sorry.

It has been incredible. I am so

happy, I have been so happy with

this idiot here are ten weeks.

He is lovable.

You've made all of Susan's

dance dreams come true.

Just how proud are you of this lady?

He said, I am so proud of you.

I was, we were at odds on to be the

first eliminated at the beginning,

that is what people were saying. We

immediately hit it off and had a

great time. Susan really applied

herself and did not want to be a

comedy act because she was a

comedian, she wanted to work hard

and she did every day. A joy to work

with. I saw her improve every week.

I have always said dancing is about

making people feel something. I can

still work on technical things, we

all can. If you can make someone

feel something when you dance, you

are a great dancer. Susan did that

every week of Strictly.

I could not be more proud.

You've become such great mates.

Is it true Susan's been

doing your laundry?

His pants were hanging on my

radiator!

Who would you like to win?

I made good friends with Mollie

King, she is a smasher. Genuinely,

if anyone of them won, I would be

delighted, they work hard, they are

delightful. It could be any of them.

Whoever does it is an incredibly

worthy winner of Strictly this year.

Thank you for all the joy.

You make everything better, Zoe.

We

have loved you on the show. We will

see you at Elstree for the final.

We will miss you.

Give it up for Susan

and Kevin, everyone!

CHEERING.

Now, an epic weekend

of dance calls for a big

old snoop behind the scenes.

Here's what our camera

crew uncovered.

It is Strictly day.

Show day.

We are in the last stretch. We have

got this far which is fantastic.

It ends with me on the bed, no

duvet, which is what happens!

I think I kicked him more than he

kicked me.

Please welcome all the couples. We

are doing the Paso-doble-thon

rehearsal, AJ has a strategy to use

his elbows.

I am so excited.

I am so scared.

Don't worry, I will travel you

around the room.

They have gone into, edition mode,

the professionals.

It is amazing.

Wayward elbows and knees.

There needs to be a referee.

We are the tallest so I'm not

worried.

Come on! I am so excited. My first

competition.

He has won loads of competitions.

Hi, it is your favourite redhead

dancer here.

Let us go. I am going to take you to

a secret location. This is for all

of the girls. We have coaches --

Captures.

Chloe is in the corner. Brendan is

getting some make-up on. I thought

you were a natural beauty! Obviously

Posh bed head is the luck we are

going for today. Which Debbie finds

hilarious.

Tonight, Giovanni and I

are the penultimate act. I am having

a quick change from my tango costume

into my paso doble costume. During

the dress rehearsal I got changed

very quickly so hopefully tonight

with the live show it will be just

as smooth.

Five minutes everybody.

Come on, let's go.

Showtime.

It is

the run to the finale and they have

got the Paso Doble-thon, never done

before.

Looking good.

Have a good

one, darling.

Now, this is the

business end of the competition.

Live from the BBC, this is Strictly

come dancing!

Amazing.

Now, the quarterfinals might be

less than a week away,

but there's one contest that's

really heating up.

It's Pro Challenge time!

This year's challenge is heading

back in time to the Roaring 20s

where our pros will attempt to set a

Guinness world record for the most

Charleston swivel steps in 30

seconds. In order to qualify our,

our pros will have two complete one

forward and backward step. If there

is no swivel in the feet and ankles,

they will be disqualified. This is

the hardest challenge they have ever

faced but only one person can claim

the title. Thank you.

Time to welcome our next contender.

She's so handy with a sewing kit.

She made Janette and Aljaz matching

denim jackets as a wedding gift.

Watch out, Vicky Gill!

From Russia, with no love

lost, it's Katya Jones!

CHEERING.

Oh, what an entrance! Hello, catch

my darling. This is only your second

pro challenge.

However, you might be quite

keen to forget the first

one when you had 75%

of your steps disqualified!

Better than my husband, I'll just

point that out.

He had them all

disqualified.

It's been forgotten.

It is buried. We never discussed

that.

So far, we've only had boys,

you are the first lady dancer. Are

you going all out for womankind?

Of

course. Girls are so competitive.

Especially district league goals.

Let's see how you did in the most

physically and technically

challenging pro challenge of them

all. Good luck, capture.

Last year,

I didn't do so well but I can feel

it is going to be my year. I've got

lots to prove to myself. Bring it

on.

Hello, judges. Welcome to the

Strictly pro challenge. This is your

second year. Last year, a little bit

of a fail.

I didn't think so but you

did.

We disqualified a lot of your

steps but hopefully we won't have to

do that this year.

I'm going to do

that my best. Keep them tight. Good

advice.

OK. For your official

attempt, beginning in three, two,

one, go!

Keep it going. It's good.

15

seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one, stop.

Great swivel. Very good.

That was

hard again. It proves every year how

hard it is.

It looked much better

than last year. A little bit like a

chicken on top but we're not worried

about what goes on on top.

Keep your

arms going and the feet will follow.

That kept you going and in time.

Thank you. I can't wait for the

results.

Good luck.

Well done.

Really promising comments from the

judges. Pretty good. I looked a

little bit like a chicken but as

long as that kept my feet

swivelling.

Giving flapper whole new

meaning there. I love that.

I think

it worked. It's almost cool. When

you run or do any type of exercise,

the more you move your arms, the

faster your feet go. That's what I

did.

Applause from the great Bill

Dema there.

I don't know. He didn't

look very confident in me.

After

last year... Anything could happen.

After each of the professionals had

made the attempt, the footage was

watched by adjudicators in slow

motion to make sure all the swivels

were more accurate. I hate to bring

this up again but as a fan of having

a criminal record, any illegal

activity there?

I think the last one

when they said stop was a bit

rubbish.

A bit dodgy. We will see.

The moment of truth. In 30 seconds,

you completed...

19 Charleston swivels. Our highest

number so far. The chicken worked.

Let's not count your chickens before

they have hatched. I can now reveal

that you had no steps disqualified!

And that, my friend, puts you at the

top of the leaderboard.

Yes, boys!

This is the way forward.

Girls, I've

got your back.

You are so happy. Who

could be your biggest threat?

Last

year's champion. Jeannette is very

little. Could be.

But, for now, you

are top of the leaderboard, capture

Jones. -- Katya Jones.

And that, my friend,

puts you here on the Leader Board!

Now, shall we welcome

our final guests?

Bruno compared them to a couple

of old-fashioned movie stars.

And they certainly put us in a spin

with their timeless waltz.

They're a class act.

I was totally charmed. Elegance,

Grace, simplicity. Beautiful.

It's Davood and Nadiya!

Such an elegant routine on Saturday.

Were you born to waltz?

Do you think? I loved it. There is a

lot to do think about doing

ballroom. My shoulders were playing

up so there is a lot to think about.

Very exposed. Very technical.

But

the two of you, floating around. It

looks like and smells like the lucky

socks are working. I know they are

back. Have they been washed?

They

have been washed. The Mrs wouldn't

let it happen any more.

You stripped

this dance right back. It obviously

worked. Why was it the key to

keeping this simple and traditional?

It was time for him just to dance

without doing any extra things. I

felt he was ready. It was a

challenge for him, he felt it, he

was very nervous but I was so proud

of him. You was feeling every step,

every moment.

It definitely gives

you all the feelings when you get it

right. Everything seemed to come

together in the right time.

Sometimes it just happens. You

obviously worked so hard. The music

and the costume, it was all too

much. Shirley said that you took

back in time. Bruno was charmed.

Darcey said that it was her kind of

waltz.

Lovely to hear that. I

genuinely didn't know how it had

gone. It felt lovely. But you never

know. I thought, it hadn't gone too

well and then they said really

lovely things. As long as Nadiya is

happy at the end of the dance, I'm

happy but the judges know what they

are talking about.

It's only going

to help. One tiny thing Craig said.

He wanted a bit more swing. He said

it was hard even for the

professional dancers.

Because it is

a waltz, it is about swing and sway

and we work on it as much as we

could.

We tried. There has been some

improvement on it.

Absolutely. I

think it was better. Especially with

the waltz, you have to do it as much

as we can. It's one of the most

difficult things technically and

with that music it was quite

difficult. But he's amazing.

Well, your on-screen brother

Shaheen Jafargholi

AKA Shakil from Eastenders

was impressed.

He tweeted:

By "sickening" we think he meant it

in the street slang sense -

an adjective

similar to cool referring to

something that is great -

you might say it was "sick, bruv".

Yes, broth!

There has also been

online comparisons to a certain

Disney character.

An Aladdin moment.

A Whole New World. She was on my

shoulder.

First, the Paso

Doble-thon, how was it?

Strange

sharing the dance floor with so many

others. These guys are used to it

but for others it was, what?

It is

terribly difficult for the

celebrities to do it with all the

others.

Argentine tango this week

from the musicals for these two.

This is so exciting. You are the

first man to do the Argentine tango

this week.

Alexandra and Debbie have set

the bar, both scoring 38.

You're the first man to take it on -

how are you feeling about it?

It is difficult for a man.

He is in

control of everything. So if his

balance is not there, it might ruin

everything.

Just to give you

encouragement, you are the only

celebrity in the last four weeks not

to have gone below 35. This is good

stuff. Does it give you momentum

going into it?

Now, I'm a bit

nervous and sweaty. It is nervous

but I love watching the Argentine

tango and if I get it right I will

be happy, no matter what the score.

You are doing so brilliantly. Keep

it up. Davood and Nadiya.

That's it for tonight.

Huge thanks to all my guests.

Join us tomorrow at 6.30

where I'll be chatting to dance-off

survivors Alexandra and Gorka.

Plus, Erin Boag returns

for Choreography Corner

and Kevin Clifton takes on

the Pro Challenge!

Until then, good night!