“We have truly had the magnificent seven tonight,” said Len Goodman, of the seven celebrities still on the floor in Strictly Come Dancing.
But, in the show’s “Round the World” special, one dancer was more magnificent than the others - and that was TV presenter Caroline Flack, who topped the leaderboard with 39/40 for her Charleston to “Istanbul” with Pasha Kovalev.
“It was absolutely fantastic,” said Craig Revel Horwood. “I can see you doing that in the final.”
“I wanted to do Strictly just to do the Charleston,” Caroline said.
“And it was your best dance,” Len told her.
“It was clean, it was crisp, it was quirky and it was fun,” added Darcey Bussell.
“The belle of Istanbul!” said Bruno Tonioli. “It was like a sparkling mosaic - every piece fitted together.”
Tied in second place, just one point behind Caroline, were singers Pixie Lott and Simon Webbe.
Pixie danced a Viennese Waltz with Trent Whiddon to “Tulips From Amsterdam” that was “dainty and charming”, Darcey told her. “Very, very impressive.”
Simon danced a waltz with Kristina Rihanoff to “Edelweiss” that was “fabulous” said Len.
“You have come such a long way,” added Craig. “You must be so proud of yourself.”
Singer Frankie Bridge and Kevin Clifton were lowered to the dance floor on a surfboard for their jive to “Surfin’ USA” and all the judges enjoyed it, scoring Frankie 36.
“No wipeout from you tonight,” Len told Frankie.
Reality TV star Mark Wright, who danced a salsa to “Viva Las Vegas”, was told his dance “lacked a bit of polish here and there”, by Len and it scored 32.
“It was all very jolty for me,” added Craig. “But your hip circles are second to none.”
EastEnders’ star Jake Wood usually scores with his hips… He was top of the leaderboard last week but, tonight, Jake got just 29 points for his Argentine Tango with Janette Manrara to “Zorba the Greek”.
“A complete disaster,” said Craig.
“I liked the fusion between Greek and Argentine moves,” said Darcey. “But you lost your balance halfway through and then it got messy.”
Casualty star Sunetra Sarker was bottom of the leaderboard, with 27 points for her rumba with Brendan Cole to “Girl From Ipanema”.
“I find the sexy moves a bit intimidating,” Sunetra confessed.
“It’s not an easy dance but you did it nicely,” Darcey told Sunetra.
“Your timing was excellent but it could have done with a bit more hip action and sparkle,” added Len.
Does that mean Sunetra will be in the dance-off again?
Strictly Come Dancing results show is on BBC1, Sunday, November 29, 7.15pm.
Click here for our picture special from this round of the contest.
