Strictly 2025 LIVE: Alex Kingston gets kiss from Shirley Ballas as she tops leaderboard with sensational rumba

Good morning, Strictly watchers! Stay tuned to hear all the latest updates from this week's competition...

After movie week hit us with some surprises – yes, I'm still talking about KPop Demon Hunters – the dancers are going back to basics this week. See the full list of songs for this week's episode here.

In case you missed it, Isabelle Casey had a wonderful, insightful chat with Strictly's Tess Daly, who's now been on the show for 21 years, about raising her two daughters Phoebe and Amber. Read the full interview with Tess here.

After disappearing from Movie Week, Stefan Dennis and Dianne Buswell will be back this week. However, his wife, Gail, revealed the frantic phone call she received from him about the news of the illness that prompted him to pull out of the performance. See the full story here.

Alex Kingston absolutely stole the show during Movie Week, and was rightly inundated with praise for it. Just the day before, she revealed that she had only recently recovered from womb cancer. Find out more about her journey here.

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In case you missed it, we traced Love Island winner Amber Davies' incredible journey from the villa, to being a backing vocalist on the X Factor, to now playing starring roles on the West End and being one of our personal favourites to come out on top of this year's Strictly. Read all about her career trajectory here. 

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Later tonight, Nikita and Amber will perform the first Argentine Tango of the series. Have you wondered where the Strictly dancer relaxes when he's not on the show. See inside his gorgeous home here, which he shares with his girlfriend and his two cats.

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There's still plenty of time before we'll be firmly planted in front of our screens for Strictly. The show won't be kicking off until 18.30 tonight, and it will be on air until 20.35.

Motsi Mabuse is one of our favourite judges on the panel with her infectious energy. Away from Elstree, Motsi is a doting mother to her daughter, whose name she tries to keep out of the spotlight. Here's all you need to know about their relationship and the Strictly star's love life.

Ellie os one of the standout stars from this year's Strictly, but at one point her mother was told the model would never be able to walk and talk. See the full story here...

Despite getting his highest score of the series, last week, it was time to bid farewell to presenter Ross King. "I have loved every single minute of it. I would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported us, all the people who voted – they've been amazing," the star told Tess after his elimination. "I want to thank everyone here in this room, backstage, the judges, the crew – every single person here has made me so, so welcome."

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The Strictly family is always growing, but it's not the only large family involved this year. Actor Lewis Cope is one of 14 children! Here's all you need to know about the actor's life away from the dancefloor.

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Another themed week is just around the corner as Tess Daly confirmed that next week will be the show's Icons Week. The theme debuted last year for the show's 20th anniversary and celebrates the star's favourite musical icons. Who will we be seeing?

Last time Karen did a ballroom number, her posture came in for heavy criticism, and this week she returns to the style with a quickstep. This time, I think she totally smashed it out the park, there was energy, moves and no sense of nerves! Karen has opened our show in style.

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Despite noticing a slip on the dress, Karen praised Karen's elegance and attack. Shirley praised the star's energy, but she noticed a tiny bit of gapping and also praised her "bum spin". Anton was impressed with how Karen handled a mishap and noted the "clean" opening. High praise for Karen indeed!

We still haven't topped that Week 1 jive, but Karen got a very respectable 27 for the dance.

Harry might be developing an allergy to shirts, but his dancing is improving week by week. He gave all the steamy sensuality you could want in a rumba. I think he's growing into one to watch this year.

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Anton called the routine "intense", though desired some more movement in the hips, and praised the way Karen choreographed the routine. Craig looked for more "fluidity", but praised the way that he presented Karen. Continuing on that point, Motsi shared how it showed the couple's partnership skills with a particular highlight on the "chemistry".

Both Harry and Karen joked about how they were against the "sexy" part of their routine before we got to the final scores. And it was a high mark, with the duo earning themselves 26, just one less than Karen.

Shirley noted how Vicky was improving week on week and gave a handy demonstration as to how the arms and hands should be placed. Anton said the star was "absolutely marvellous", but advised her to "cut loose". What a bounceback from last week!

However, Craig said he thought the dance was "monotone" but praised the technique and performance level.

Vicky has been speaking of her love for the samba, and she showed that how much she loved the dance. My favourite dance from Vicky so far!

Vicky has been improving week on week, and this time, she received a total of 29 from the judges, including an eight from Anton!

Craig called for Stefan to find more "musicality in his body" and explained that he needed to "dance" the routine more, fearing that the couple "played it safe". Motsi disagreed a lot, calling it Stefan's "best dance" and enthusing how the judges have been "waiting" for a performance like this. Shirley said he'd "come back with a bang" and praised Dianne's choreography. High praise indeed, shows what I know!

After pulling out of his waltz last week, Stefan returned to Strictly with a Charleston. I'm not certain it'll be enough to save him, but loved all the moves that Dianne through in there!

Although it was only a 5 from Craig, Stefan scored 26, his highest mark so far.

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"What a song, what a dance," Anton said as he opened his comments, but explained that he wanted Lewis to partner Katya better. Craig felt there was too much "power or energy" in some of the moves, but called the routine "beautiful". Motsi noticed all the changes from last week and called the pair "the couple".

There were no 10s, but Lewis scored 34 for the ballroom routine, placing him at the top of the leaderboard.

Ahead of his Couple's Choice, Jimmy spoke about his heritage, and reduced his wife to tears when he played one of the songs he would be dancing to. Jimmy is dancing a medley of songs from the soca music genre.

I think this is the happiest I've seen Jimmy on the show and he really showed off his best. I wasn't a fan of last week's rumba, but this week, he really knocked it out of the park!

Lewis got the first 10 of the series with his fiery paso doble. And I loved his foxtrot, style and grace in my books, is he on the way to another 10?

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Although Shirley noticed some synch issues, she still loved the routine, and Anton said he felt the performance was "joyous". Craig, however, wanted Jimmy to dance to his "size" and called for broader and cleaner shapes.