Georgia May Foote was the star of week nine of Strictly Come Dancing after recording a high score of 38 in Blackpool.
The actress and model was praised for a “brilliant, brilliant dance” alongside her partner Giovanni Pernice, with judge Darcey Bussell saying: “You are so graceful, you are gliding through this competition. You are going to go far.”
Bruno Tonioli told the pair their American Smooth dance to Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing was pure ballroom bliss.
Georgia was visibly emotional after receiving her score, which included tens from Bruno and Len Goodman.
The night’s biggest strugglers were Peter Andre and Janette Manrara, who danced the Jive to Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High.
They were told it “was not their finest day” by Len, and were criticised for being flat-footed by Craig Revel Horwood.
Singer Peter said he does not expect to have a great week every time, but he had a “ball of a time. A ballroom!”
However, their final score of 29 left them rooted to the bottom of the night’s leaderboard.
Other impressive performances included Jay McGuinness and his partner Aliona Vilani, who started the show with a vibrant salsa to the disco-flavoured Cuba, which prompted Len to tell Jay: “There is no end to your talent.”
Bruno added that The Wanted singer Jay’s loins were on fire, and said: “You blended with the professionals so well that it was indistinguishable.” Each judge gave the pair a nine, giving them a total score of 36.
TV and radio presenter Anita Rani and Gleb Savchenko danced the Paso Doble to Malaguena by Connie Francis and successfully built on the rave reviews they received for their Quickstep last week.
Len said: “It had mood, it has passion. It was fantastic. Well done,” before awarding them a nine.
The other scores were nine, nine and a 10 from Darcey, giving them a total score of 37.
Kellie Bright, the actress, and Kevin Clifton were also given 37, which included a 10 from Bruno, who said he would “file it under B, for Brilliant”.
Jamelia and her partner Tristan MacManus scored a respectable 31 after they danced the Quickstep to The Monkees’ I’m A Believer.
The pair had survived four dance-offs before Saturday night and Craig said they would not be able to avoid a fifth dance-off on the basis of their performance this week, although the other judges were more impressed.
Other highlights included presenter Katie Derham and Anton du Beke’s American Smooth to the sound of Dean Martin’s Ain’t That A Kick In The Head, which was given a 35, and actress Helen George, who scored 34 alongside her partner Aljaz Skorjanec.
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