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Strictly Week 3: The first 10 of the competition, Amy Dowden's return and more of the best moments

Strictly Come Dancing is really heating up now!


Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer dancing in movie week
Matthew Moore
Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead
Updated: On 7 October 2023
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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

Welcome to Movie Week!

It is one of the highlights of the Strictly calendar tonight and we cannot wait! Movie Week often delivers iconic moments, who can forget Jay McGuinness' Jive?! So, will the celebs pull out their A-game tonight, and who will be a box office bust? In a few moments, we'll be finding out!

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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

Who went home last week?

Each week, we sadly have to wave goodbye to a celeb and last week, Les Dennis became the first to get the chop. Facing Nikita Kanda in the dance-off, the judges opted not to save his sailing samba, meaning the legendary comedian and Nancy Xu went home. We miss you Les!

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu dancing© BBC
Les was the first to walk the plank
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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

Beautiful Disney tribute kicks off proceedings

As with any themed week, a professional routine started off the show, and this time Strictly paid tribute to Disney animators with routines set to some of our favourite Disney songs while clips from decades worth of Disney cartoons played in the background. And we loved it! But we can't wait to see what the celebs will be doing.

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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

Nigel Harman is no joke(r) with Batman routine routine

Nigel Harman opened the show with his Batman-inspired routine, with Shirley praising the actor for taking on one of the most "difficult steps" in the jive, although highlighting a couple mistakes. We didn't notice any Shirley!

But resident villain Craig also noticed some errors and wanted "tighter" kicks and flicks, and even Motsi said it was a "little loose" while Anton heaped tonnes of praise on the Dynamic Duo of Nigel and Katya.

Nigel's score: 25

Nigel Harman and Katya Jones as Batman and Robin© BBC
Nigel Harman and Katya Jones transformed into Batman and Robin
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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

Amy Dowden returns!

Amy Dowden made her first return to the Strictly live shows since her cancer diagnosis, surprising her co-stars as she read out the terms and conditions for voting. She also informed viewers she was "halfway" through her treatment and hoped to be returning soon. We hope so too!

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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

The Studio Is Alive with the Sound of Music

Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington took on the Quickstep to Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music, and Angela looked just as graceful as last week's Foxtrot. Anton labelled it a "wonderful performance" while praising the presenter's "lines".

Motsi praised the duo's "magical connection" but sadly a mistake was picked by several judges, but given the excitement, we're sure they can be forgiven!

Angela's score: 26

Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington perform a Sound of Music routine on Strictly© BBC
Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington took inspiration from the Sound of Music
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Online News Writer & Diversity and Inclusion Lead

Zara was purr-fect

Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima took on the Paso Doble to a song from Puss in Boots and while we loved their show-stopping costumes, we loved the powerful dance even more.

Craig, however, did not calling the dance "marchy and stompy" before praising how "theatrical" the routine was, at least he ended on a positive! Motsi called for more "tecnhique" while praising how far she has come in the competition while Anton praised her dedication to the routines.

Zara's score: 25

Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima during movie week© BBC
Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima wowed the crowds
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Layton's the one that we want!

Last week, Layton Williams Nikita Kuzmin topped the leaderboard with their Quickstep, and this week they're taking on the Viennese Waltz. Layton continued to be iconic as he dressed in drag to channel his inner Rizzo while also bringing us an incredibly moving routine.

The judges noted how difficult that ballroom dances could be, with Motsi and Shirley noting some "footwork errors" - have we noticed how harsh the judges seem to be this week? Thankfully Anton was on hand to compliment his "fleckerl" but noted posture errors.

Layton's score: 28

WATCH: Layton Williams dances in full drag for Movie Week

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Angela Scanlon does Fosse proud!

Ahead of her dance, Angela Sacnlon was worried about doing choreographer Bob Fosse proud, and with a phenomenal routine (Shirley's words, not ours), we think Angela is truly the dark horse of this competition. Anton called it the "best number" from the entire series so far, calling it "clean as a whistle" and it being the sort of routine he wanted to watch as a dancer. Can you get higher praise than that?

Angela's score: 35

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Dear diary, Amanda's rumba was amazing

It was the first rumba of the series, and Amanda Abbington really blew it out of the park with her sensuality. Motsi praised Amanda's "elegance" and also called the dance "expensive-looking". And with Shirley being the 'Queen of Rumba', she had high praise for Amanda's "rumba walks".

Amanda's scores: 30

Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice's dance for movie week© BBC
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice wowed with their routine for movie week
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Nikita was far from Clueless with this dance!

Nikita admitted that her "confidence" had been knocked from being in last week's dance-off, but she came back fighting fit for her Jive from Clueless! Full of energy and smiles, the BBC Asian Network presenter came back strong, although Craig ended up calling it "flat-footed" with plenty of boos ringing out around the Elstree. Shirley said there were "zero mistakes" and said she kept improving.

This was reflected on their final score, which was their highest yet!

Nikita's score: 21

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez's Clueless routine© BBC
Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez channelled Clueless
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Ellie brings the magic with her Viennese Waltz

While we secretly hoped for We Don't Talk About Bruno, Ellie Leach brought one of the most beautiful dances we've ever witnessed. Motsi hailed Ellie's consistent "strong" performances, while Anton called the duo a "delight" and Shirley gave her a new nickname 'Miss Fluidity'. No one's been bringing up the 'final' word yet, but surely Ellie is basically there already?

Ellie's score: 33

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Bobby's samba was far from tragic

Bobby cracked his hips out for Week 3, and Shirley claimed he "brought the party" following his sensational performance, being surprised by the "rhythm in his pelvis". Craig said Bobby made the routine look "natural", before delivering a signature "A-Ma-Zing." Much like Ellie, Bobby is certainly fast-tracking himself to the final, excelling in the ballroom and Latin dances.

Bobby's score: 32

WATCH: Bobby Brazier brings the heat with stunning Samba

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Jody returns to the dancefloor with emotional American Smooth

It was hit or miss for if Jody Cundy would be able to dance this week, but thankfully he was able to return to the floor with a charming American Smooth from Up. Set to the most tear-jerking opening in movie history, Jody certainly was Mr. Ballroom performing to his very best. The emotion of the sequence was captured with his routine, and Anton said how "delighted" he was with the dance.

The storytelling was the main thing highlighted in critiques, although the judges had a few points to pick up with the Paralympian athlete.

Jody's score: 20

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Eddie's routine was out of this world!

Comedian Eddie Kadi took on the first Couple's Choice of the series to the theme of Men In Black and he channelled his inner Bill Bailey with a street-style routine that echoed that of the former champion.

Craig called it "fantastic" and referring to Eddie's story said he "did his family proud", while Shirley had plenty of compliments saying the comedian had "found his groove" before saying she "loved" it, and handed out the first '10' of the series.

Eddie's score: 34

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We were over the moon with Annabel Croft

Somehow I'm still typing out movie-related puns, and we were enchanted by Annabel's waltz. Motsi said she "felt" the emotion of the routine, praising the "stillness" of the ballroom routine, and Anton noted she could be a brilliant "ballroom dancer" finishing off by saying she was "wonderful".

Craig said Annabel was "regal" and even compared her to former judge and professional ballet dancer Darcey Bussell.

Annabel's score: 30

Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe for movie night© BBC
Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe delivered a mesmerising performance
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Adam's jive was super!

Emmerdale star Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk took us to the Mushroom Kingdom with their jive inspired by The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Adam brought plenty of energy and smiles to the difficult dance and Shirley was overjoyed that Adam hadn't made "any mistakes" quipping: "You've just put yourself in the running, mate!"

And we were (mostly) saved from terrible Italian accents, so winners all around!

Adam's score: 26

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Krishnan Gury-Murthy closes Movie Week with fab-aret Charleston

Krishnan Guru-Murthy in Cabaret is everything we needed! And we loved every second of this surprisingly entertaining routine, though Anton scolded for Krishnan for looking at the judges during the routine, urging him to stay focused on the dance. Even Craig was impressed with the dance, saying he never saw Krishnan's mistake, and neither did we!

Krishnan's score: 30

WATCH: Krishnan Guru-Murthy is fab-aret in closing dance!

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Will we have a shock result tomorrow?

That's the show! This week see Angela Scanlon topping the leaderboard following her sensational Charleston, while Jody Cundy occupies the bottom spot. But with previous front-runners like Layton Williams, Nigel Harman and Angela Rippon in the dangerous mid-zone of the leaderboard, might we get a shock result?

Check back on HELLO! tomorrow as we share the result as it happens. Thank you for joining us, and keeeeeeep dancing!

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