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On your dance cards tonight<\/p>\n
Low on traditional numbers tonight, I\u2019m sorry to say. Instead we\u2019ll get a battle of the jives between Balvinder Sopal and Amber Davies, plus a rumba, a cha-cha and a Couple\u2019s Choice.<\/p>\n
Just George Clarke\u2019s quickstep flies the flag for ballroom. It\u2019s 10 minutes until the glitterball starts spinning\u2026<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>Eye down for Strictly Bingo: Blackpool Edition<\/p>\n Cross them off as you spot them on-screen! Take a drink for each! End up dancing around the kitchen in your own personal Instant Dance challenge! Here\u2019s your 10-point spotter\u2019s checklist for tonight\u2019s show:<\/p>\n Hosts make intriguingly juicy comment about wild post-show party in Blackpool<\/p>\n Instant Dance Challenge turns out to be utterly confusing and total chaos<\/p>\n Anton says \u201cThat\u2019s the sort of number I\u2019d like to have danced\u201d<\/p>\n Misty-eyed reference to Blackpool\u2019s \u201cspecial atmosphere\u201d, \u201csprung floor\u201d or \u201ciconic\u201d Tower Ballroom<\/p>\n Shirley Ballas thanks a couple for \u201copening our show\u201d or \u201cclosing our show\u201d<\/p>\n Claudia refers to Lewis Cope\u2019s hundreds of siblings taking it in turns to be in the studio audience<\/p>\n Judgely bafflement over how to critique and mark a Couple\u2019s Choice<\/p>\n Mention of a post-Blackpool dip or couples being tired 10 weeks into the contest<\/p>\n Shot of Alex Kingston\u2019s dog Wolfie in fancy dress<\/p>\n Claudia makes knowing nod to the lindyhop-athon meltdown of 2018<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Christmas special line-up complete<\/p>\n Elsewhere in glitterball news, the celebrity contestants for this year\u2019s festive special have all been confirmed. Westlife\u2019s Brian McFadden, All Saints\u2019 Melanie Blatt, Gogglebox\u2019s Scarlett Moffatt, Gladiators\u2019 Jodie Ounsley, EastEnders\u2019 Nicholas Bailey and comedian Babatunde Al\u00e9sh\u00e9 will all take to the dancefloor at teatime on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n The Strictly casting department have clearly been watching Boybands Forever and Girlbands Forever on BBC<\/a> Two. Fifteen minutes until that ba-ba-da theme tune\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Back to business in the usual ballroom<\/p>\n Due to a rare elimination-free weekend, everyone made it past the Blackpool milestone and now returns to the familiar Elstree Studios ballroom.<\/p>\n No backing dancers. No sprung floor. Nowhere to hide from the judges, who will be looking closely at technique with the quarter-final beckoning. And then comes the extra pressure of the Instant Dance challenge. Gulp. It\u2019s 20 minutes until the clock strikes sequins\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Soapy Sopal is strong favourite for exit<\/p>\n Having already been subjected to four dance-offs, EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal is bookies\u2019 odds-on tip for elimination yet again this weekend. Remember, nobody has ever survived a fifth.<\/p>\n Alex Kingston is second favourite, with Amber Davies in third. Can the resilient Bal bounce back and defy the odds again? It\u2019s 25 minutes until the sparkly curtain comes up\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Stand by for the inaugural Instant Dance challenge<\/p>\n After their regular routines, tonight sees Strictly\u2019s first ever Instant Dance challenge. In this time-pressured plot twist, each couple will pick a dance style at random from ones they have learnt in the competition so far.<\/p>\n They will then be played their accompanying music and – after a frantic dash through wardrobe to select and change into their costumes – they will have just 10 seconds on the countdown clock to decide exactly how they\u2019re going to dance it. Will they try to remember the original choreography or will they improvise? The judges will mark them from one to six points, which could shake up the leaderboard and change the standings. It could also be total chaos and I\u2019m here for it.<\/p>\n Hopefully it will go rather more smoothly than the notorious lindyhop-athon of 2018, when the judges got themselves in a tangle and Claudia Winkleman had to step in. Who can deliver when it counts? We\u2019ll get our first clues in half-an-hour\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Can our couples shake off their Blackpool hangovers?<\/p>\n They\u2019ve waved off La Voix and danced back down the M6. Now it\u2019s a homecoming show for our hoofers. However, one couple is about to fall short of the quarter-final and miss out on Musicals Week.<\/p>\n Good evening and welcome to week 10 (yes, we\u2019re into double figures) of Strictly Come Dancing 2025. I\u2019m Michael, your twinkle-toed typist for tonight\u2019s live show. I\u2019d love you to watch along with me as our six surviving couples return to the Elstree Studios ballroom. They will also tackle Strictly\u2019s first ever Instant Dance Challenge in their bid to make it through to next week\u2019s themed quarter-final.<\/p>\n Last weekend\u2019s annual trip north to the Tower Ballroom was a strange but celebratory one. It began with the sad news that La Voix was forced to withdraw from the competition with her foot injury, so nobody would be eliminated. A giddy night of high scoring ensued, with another perfect 40 for Lewis Cope, while Karen Carney and George Clarke notched 39 points apiece.<\/p>\n Our six remaining pro-celebrity pairings now return to the familiar surroundings of the Elstree Studios ballroom – with extra points up for grabs in the never-seen-before Instant Dance climax. More on that in a moment. Tonight\u2019s scores and public vote will be combined with last week\u2019s, before the bottom two will dance again for survival on Sunday night. Balvinder Sopal is bookies odds-on favourite for elimination (again), followed by Alex Kingston.<\/p>\n It\u2019s showtime at 6.35pm on BBC<\/a> One. I\u2019ll be liveblogging from 6.05pm, providing build-up, rolling coverage, analysis, reaction and glitter-encrusted gags. So close the curtains on the wind, rain and Budget bores and I\u2019ll see you on the sofa.<\/p>\n As always, I\u2019d love to hear from you too. You can tweet me @michaelhogan, contact me on Bluesky or Threads @michaelhogan100, email me michael.hogan.freelance@guardian.co.uk<\/a> and the comments section below is at your dance disposal. I\u2019ll rumba-walk down there whenever I can to peek at what you\u2019re all saying and report your reactions up top.<\/p>\n It\u2019s week 10, so let\u2019s do this again. Nearly time to staaaart instant dancing!<\/p>\n