Strictly Come Dancing fans praise Nikita's choreography

Strictly Come Dancing 2022 Ellie Simmonds & Nikita Kuzmin in Strictly Come Dancing 2022

(Image credit: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing fans have been sharing their praise for pro dancer Nikita Kuzmin and his "brilliant choreography" after he and Ellie Simmonds wowed with their dramatic paso doble.

Ellie and Nikita took to the stage in Strictly as part of the celebrations for the BBC's 100th anniversary.

Ellie and Nikita dance a paso doble — Nikita performed some of the moves on his knees (Image credit: BBC)

They danced their dramatic paso to The Dance of the Knights, from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet - better known as the theme from The Apprentice.

Their business-based dance was dramatic and well thought out.

Nikita managed to incorporate a lot of moves that he could do on his knees, meaning he and champion Paralympic swimmer Ellie were face to face.

And the fans loved every minute of the dance, praising the partnership between the two.

Nikita really is impressing me with his choreography this year. Him and Ellie are a great partnership, loved that routine. #StrictlyOctober 22, 2022

10/10 for that very clever choreography from Nikita there. To do a lot of the dance on his knees & them be face to face for so much of the dance was brilliant 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 #StrictlyComeDancing2022 #strictly #scdOctober 22, 2022

@EllieSimmonds1 you are incredible - an absolute role model to anyone out there thinking something isn’t possible. But @kuzmin__nikita - wow! You are amazing - such clever choreography and I love watching the two of you together 🙌🏻❤️ #StrictlyOctober 22, 2022

Enjoyed Ellie’s dance this week. She’s doing so well and Nikita really works hard to accommodate her needs. #StrictlyOctober 22, 2022

Some fans even pointed out that while usually it's the pros who bring out their celebrity's hidden talents, this time it's Ellie who's showing off the best of Nikita.

We'd definitely agree with that!

Ellie and Nikita's dramatic ending to their paso doble — (Image credit: BBC)

Totally agree with this, Nikita is really shining this series, he's brilliant with Ellie & coming up with some very clever choreography.Sometimes it takes a certain celeb to bring out a pros full potential #Strictly https://t.co/O0qwUKwiehOctober 22, 2022

But while Ellie and Nikita received praise from the judges - Shirley even called their dance "phenomenal" - it wasn't all good.

They lost marks for an 'illegal lift' at the start of the dance, when Nikita helped Ellie off a desk with a bit of a flourish.

Ellie and Nikita's scores for their paso — Ellie and Nikita got 30 from the judges (Image credit: BBC)

However they still scooped an impressive 30 marks, with three 8s and just Craig Revel Horwood not as thrilled and giving them 6 marks.

Many fans thought they should have scored higher and thought it was unfair that they lost points for the lift.

I feel like the judges are watching a different show this week?! What's with this scoring?!? @bbcstrictly Ellie and Nikita should be at the top #StrictlyOctober 22, 2022

Will they have done enough to stay in the competition? We'll find out in this evening's results show. Fingers crossed they don't get fired!

Kerry is a writer, author and editor with a lifelong love of the soaps, a passion for TV drama of all kinds, and an obsessive devotion to Strictly Come Dancing.

She was features editor of All About Soap magazine for more than a decade, covering every bit of excitement from all the UK soaps and the Aussies and still writes about all the juiciest gossip from the Street, the Square and the Dales whenever she can.

Kerry’s also an author of historical fiction, and her two jobs collided when she got the chance to write two novels based on Emmerdale, and the Sugden, Tate and Dingle families, during WW2.