Woohoo, Halloween! Actually, if I’m honest, I’m not normally that bothered about Halloween week - the costumes are always exceptional but as a holiday, it’s not that interesting. The only prediction I had coming into this week was that someone would definitely be painted green. I wasn’t expecting that to happen right in the opening Pro number, but there it was!

We also had someone painted red, but hey, I’m getting ahead of myself.

John & Johannes - Quickstep

Great song and fabulous costumes. It was very energetic and stacked full of content, although Craig might have been on to something when he said the choreography was a little bit repetitive. Howling at the moon at the end though? I’ll take it. The only thing they didn’t think through was having to talk to Claudia after the dance with those fake teeth in. Tricky!

AJ & Kai - Viennese Waltz

In training, Kai said: “Vocals are unnecessary.” I’ll tell you what’s unnecessary, young man, and that’s a CG snake writhing around the floor. Anyway, it was a good dance, as per usual. Taking big steps and covering lots of the floor, good dance resulting in great scores. Job done for these two.

Dan & Nadiya - Jive

Dear Dan is still after his 8, surely those lobster hands aren’t going to help? Thankfully, they came off very quickly into the dance (although the pair did wear them for the rest of the show!) I couldn’t concentrate on the dance at all because what on earth was that song?? The judges did manage to say nice things, and Motsi gave him that much-coveted 8. Overmarked, but still, we do like Dan.

Rhys & Nancy - Paso Doble

It’s always hard to come back from the dance off, and I still maintain it’s difficult to do a Paso Doble without the Spanish theme. It was a bit too staccato for my taste, but it did feel like Rhys was trying to dampen down that energy this time. He takes such huge leaps though! I didn’t really like the dance, but I could definitely see improvements.

Sara & Aljaž - Couple’s Choice

I’ve just realised that the problem with the Couple’s Choice, if it just means you can basically do anything, is that it negates the excitement of the Showdance in the final. Incredible song, another Bodyguard reference! But the dance was a bit odd. Sort of a Paso Doble but not quite? I guess that’s Aljaž’s fault, but it was his first Couple’s Choice and I don’t want him to feel bad!

Rose & Giovanni - Tango

Well, I was not expecting Danny Dyer to rock up like that. Gorgeous dress and a wonderful dance. I think she’s given Giovanni some acting tips, his shivers at the start and end of the dance were great. I was worried for a second that the comments suggested a full 40 and we weren’t going to get it, but wahey, all the 10 paddles were out!

Tilly & Nikita - Cha Cha Cha

Ugh, I think I’m having a Craig grump this week because I am not liking a lot of these dances. Another terrible song, too. I couldn’t quite take my eyes off Nikita as Frankenstein though, that was some EPIC makeup. It felt a bit jerky but that was the style of the dance given the Frankenstein thing, so a tricky one for me.

Adam & Katya - Viennese Waltz

This felt like a dance of design over substance - the idea was great, and I loved Katya crawling in and out of the piano, but that took up quite a lot of time, especially at the beginning. They covered a good amount of the floor, and I did enjoy the choreography. The judges gave lots of tips for Adam, seeing improvement week on week, which is good.

Judi & Graziano - Cha Cha Cha

The 1980s montage in the VT was right up my street, and boy, do I want to buy Graziano’s home workout? I don’t think anyone was expecting great things from this dance but it was just lovely to see Judi up to doing it and getting through the whole thing. It was definitely overmarked, an element of sympathy in there, but a good effort.

Tom & Amy - Tango

The red paint! This was a really good dance, I liked this a lot better than last week, although the judges seemed to have the opposite opinion. Tom managed to find the character he was looking for, no laughing, and they both recovered exceptionally well for Amy slipping on her dress as she came out of the spin.

It seems odd to me that Sara got fewer points than Judi - even if the dance wasn’t up to scratch, the dancing that Sara physically did was a lot better. Oh well, it doesn’t matter anyway. Poor Judi was in the dance off and ultimately went home.

Adam being in the dance off was a bit of a surprise, but now we are getting to that point where you’ve really got to be up to scratch every weekend, as all the weaker dancers have already gone. If I had to guess, I’d say Dan and Adam are the next two heading home, but in what order?

Let’s wait a week and find out!