It was nice to be back in the Strictly party watching sort of live on a Saturday rather than a day delayed, and what better way to celebrate than with Movie Week! Hooray! The best part of this is guessing the movies as the celebrities walk down the stairs, and then by extension what song they’re going to be dancing to. We really will make a quiz out of anything.

This week feature a guest mentor, a new thing for Strictly but not a new face, with the return of megastar Cynthia Erivo. I love her and she gives good advice, clearly, but I’m not sure how much she added to the show - really just making it a bit longer than it needed to be. And she seemed to get an awful lot of credit for all the improvements the couples were making, which seemed a bit unfair.

Also, no Stefan Dennis this week as our good neighbour was off sick and gets a bye into next week.

Amber & Nikita - American Smooth (The Sound of Music)

This was really good, lots of great tricks but the dance was floaty with clean steps and lovely lifts. I think she lacked confidence in a couple of places but overall it was brilliant, and got a full house of positive comments from the judges.

Chris & Nadiya - Paso Doble (Thor: Love & Thunder)

A good effort from Chris, and definitely an improvement on last week, particularly on the character and performance side of it. It probably wasn’t the best technique, he hit some shapes but other parts of it looked slightly weird. But if you’re talking journey, this is the guy to watch.

George & Alexis - Couple’s Choice (KPop Demon Hunters)

A dance that is clearly aimed at the youth vote and not aimed at me at all - it was like being on a huge sugar high. He did a pretty good job with all the steps in the right order, maybe just a couple of timing issues, but overall good synchronicity between them. Although there were glimpses of confidence, I think it was still on the timid side. But full of joy and good lifts. A really split opinion amongst the judges.

La Voix & Aljaž - Waltz (Mary Poppins)

The waltz is not my favourite, but this wasn’t a boring one which is great. It seemed nice and flowing and had a soft and magical vibe about it. Nice to see there are many sides to La Voix, not just out-and-out humour all the time.

Ross & Jowita - Paso Doble (Thunderbirds Are Go)

This upset me on a few different levels - firstly the set was Thunderbird 2 but then they showed footage of Thunderbird 1 taking off. Not a good start. Ross was doing his best, no complaints about effort and good character but… it was terrible. Out of time, very stompy, the outfits looked constricting and I just don’t think the dance worked with the music at all.

Balvinder & Julian - Foxtrot (Swing Time)

Good character but there just felt like something was off to me. Is she missing a few steps or hand actions or there’s a disconnect between them? There’s something weird about their chemistry in hold as well. Smooth and sophisticated but a bit rough around the edges.

Karen & Carlos - Cha Cha (Miss Congeniality)

I love Sandy, so this got off to a great start for me. Karen looked a little bit uncomfortable at the beginning but once she hit the floor with Carlos it got so much better - bit smiles, great sass, excellent timing and straight legs. Motsi keeps missing her cue to pick up the score paddle because she’s too busy chatting with Cynthia.

Jimmy & Lauren - Rumba (No Time to Die)

The most important thing here is that it wasn’t cringey, as the rumba can so often be. Great hips from Jimmy, intense and comfortable both on his own and partnering Lauren. He wasn’t just stood there and whizzing her around, he was fully dancing the whole thing. The ending went slightly awry but lots to love in there.

Vicky & Kai - Charleston (The Great Gatsby)

Overall enjoyable and I love her, but really not perfect. The lifts were great, and pretty much all the steps were in the right order with good energy. Not a lot of swivel though, and quite laboured. Also, she did the thing where she was just waiting for the next move to begin. She was definitely disappointed at the end.

Ellie & Vito - Samba (Barbie)

Not a lot of hips but she has great natural bounce and incredible energy, obviously. The partnership continues to be wonderful and the timing is outstanding. Lots of different rhythms, it looked like a challenging dance.

Alex & Johannes - Quickstep (The Devil Wears Prada)

Perfect characterisation right up until the post-dance interview. The timing was incredible, especially at the beginning where they were technically faffing about but it was never boring. Good frame, good dancing, very in sync with each other, very enjoyable to watch!

Harry & Karen - Salsa (Mufasa)

I had to get over the fact that this reminded me of Claudia & AJ (she was robbed!) but once I cleared my mind, this was brilliant. The character was fun, the African style really excellent, and it was full of style and grace. There were definitely some timing or synchronicity issues in there, although it never seemed wrong, just not together. Love how much he was loving it though.

Lewis & Katya - Paso Doble (The Mask of Zorro)

This was just two professional dancers doing what they do. First 10 of the series from Motsi.

It’s hard to enjoy Lewis’ dancing because he’s too perfect right from the beginning - he has the dance experience, which doesn’t always mean they’re going to be good, but he is and that means there’s no journey or rollercoaster to go on. It’s pretty dull. With the first 10 of the series, it’s no surprise that he was top of the leaderboard, followed by Amber and Harry.

I predicted it would be between Chris and Ross, but actually had thrown Balvinder’s name into the mix as it just didn’t grab me at all. The dance off ended up being between Balvinder and Ross, and the judges inevitably sent the Thunderbirds home. Shame for Jowita, but the right choice overall.

Next week, there’s no theme but hopefully we’ll have a full cast back again and we’ll see if anyone can top Lewis’ score!