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Judges\u2019 scores: 7, 8, 8, 8 for a total of 31 points. Her best ballroom score. Tearful Vicky is \u201cover the moon\u201d.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Judges\u2019 comments: Shirley says \u201chuge improvement from your week two foxtrot\u201d. Anton says \u201cbreathy, big and bold, marvellous heel turn, super performance\u201d. Craig says \u201cneeded more reach and extension, smoother transitions and nicer shape in flight, but wonderful to see your confidence growing\u201d. Motsi concludes \u201cfinish your moves, make it cleaner but atmospheric and characterful, you\u2019re a contender for the final\u201d. Sevens and the odd eight?<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Vicky and Kai\u2019s alluring American smooth<\/p>\n Vicky Pattison and her pro partner Kai Widdrington are the only couple in the contest to increase their score every week. Can the Geordie lass continue that steady improvement? She\u2019s playing a ghost in a pearl-embellished white frock. Foxtrot steps and solid frame. Smooth with a sprinkle of spookiness. Spinning lifts. Posture not perfect and the odd thrown-away move but lovely flow. This is her first number with proper storytelling and she\u2019s doing a great job of bringing the drama.<\/p>\n Song: Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler. the 1983 power-pop chart-topper was written and produced by Jim Steinman, who Tyler approached after liking his work with Meat Loaf. It was originally written for a Nosferatu musical, hence the rather vampiric lyrics. It once topped a poll of most popular songs to sing in the shower.<\/p>\n Vicky Pattison and Kai Widdrington. Photograph: Guy Levy\/BBC\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.45 EDT<\/p>\n Our Strictly stars\u2122<\/p>\n Our couples emerge for staircase waves and they\u2019ve all been raiding the creepy costume box. Devils! Ghosts! A big bad wolf! And a white rabbit, for some strange reason! It\u2019s like a posse of toddlers going trick-or-treating.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Judges rise from the grave<\/p>\n The paddle-raising quartet arrive in full fancy dress. All in a steampunk vampiric vibe, including Auntie Joan aka Anton. The panel\u2019s table is cobweb draped with skull and pumpkin ornaments. Never knowingly under-themed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Frockwatch<\/p>\n Our Halloween hosts arrive, so let\u2019s rate their fright night finery. Tess Daly is black velvet strapless affair with matching choker. Claudia Winkleman is in a polo necked number. Claud wins.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Cue clapalong titles<\/p>\n Five of the male celebs have bowed out already, via a combo of elimination and injury. Who\u2019s next on the night bus home from Borehamwood?<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Aaaaand we\u2019re off!<\/p>\n Cue the compulsory horror-themed VT. A Blair Witch Project parody this year. With added zombies.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Insert your vampire fangs and nibble on some necks. Or at least a bowl of Nice \u2018N\u2019 Spicy Nik-Naks. We\u2019re about to go over live to the Elstree Studios ballroom\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>On your dance cards tonight<\/p>\n Another selection box tonight, with nine different dance styles. The only doubling up is from Vicky Pattison and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who both perform American smooths. We\u2019ll also see an Argentine tango from Karen Carney and a Couple\u2019s Choice form Lewis Cope.<\/p>\n Just five frightening minutes until the spangly curtain comes up\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Amanda Holden-hosted quiz hotchpotch The Celebrity Inner Circle just wrapping up on BBC1. As always seems to be the case, there\u2019s a few Strictly alumna among the guests. This week, it\u2019s Chizzy Akudolu (first out in 2017), JJ Chalmers (quarter-finalist in 2020) and Melvin Odoom (first out in 2016). A mere 10 minutes to wait now\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Bwa-ha-ha, it\u2019s Halloween bingo<\/p>\n Tick them off when you spot them! Drink a bubbling, smoking potion for each! End up doing the Monster Mash and the Timewarp at a total stranger\u2019s house party! Here\u2019s tonight\u2019s 10-point spotter\u2019s checklist:<\/p>\n Judges wield pumpkin\/ghost\/bat-shaped scoring paddles<\/p>\n Someone begins routine by climbing out of a coffin, sparking traumatic Nancy Dell\u2019Olio flashbacks<\/p>\n Halloween prop overload means way too much \u201cmessin\u2019 abaht\u201d and dances take ages to get going<\/p>\n Routine \u201cenhanced\u201d and \u201caugmented\u201d by shonky CGI creatures<\/p>\n Claudia and Tess dress in gothic black and blood red respectively<\/p>\n A judge or pro has a disembodied hand on their shoulder<\/p>\n Craig says a dance was \u201ca horror show, darling\u201d with \u201cfrightening footwork\u201d or \u201cstiff zombie hips\u201d<\/p>\n Band leader Dave Arch is dressed as a baton-wielding werewolf\/vampire<\/p>\n Someone\u2019s face-paint transfers to their partner\u2019s cheek or costume during the dance<\/p>\n Production team\u2019s names are \u201cspookified\u201d with Halloween puns on the end credits<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Midway mark next week<\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s 10 couples are bidding to get through to week seven, which marks the halfway milestone of the contest. Fun fact: this is the furthest we\u2019ve ever got into a series without Anton Du Beke giving a perfect 10. Could it happen tonight?<\/p>\n Twenty minutes until the glittery curtain comes up\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Your Halloween highlights<\/p>\n What\u2019s your most memorable Halloween routine of Strictly yore? Numbers that stick in my mind include Ashley Roberts\u2019 witchy Charleston, Faye Tozer\u2019s skeletal Couple\u2019s Choice, Kara Tointon\u2019s Phantom paso and Frankie Bridge\u2019s green-faced Wicked tango.<\/p>\n All by female celebs, I notice. Has a celebrity male ever delivered a Halloween classic? Let me know your own favourites. It\u2019s 25 minutes until the ghostly glitterball starts spinning\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Another monstrous elimination looms<\/p>\n Balvinder Sopal is bookies\u2019 strong favourites for the boot again this week, followed by La Voix and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey. Amber Davies will also be nervy after last week\u2019s dance-off shock.<\/p>\n Could Halloween characterisation help them all to safety? Half an hour until we get our first choreographic clues\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Whose hoofing will be a horror show in the Halloween Spooktacular?<\/p>\n Someone will be sent home in pumpkin-shaped carriage. Good evening and welcome to the sixth live weekend of Strictly Come Dancing 2025. I\u2019m Michael, your cyber dance partner for tonight\u2019s fright night special. You are cordially yet creepily invited to watch along with me as our 10 remaining couples cook up a cauldron of choreography.<\/p>\n Last time out, Icons Week saw the first major dance-off shock of the series, as Amber Davies plummeted from joint second on the scoreboard into the bottom two. But she managed to survive and instead, former Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink departed the dancefloor.<\/p>\n Tonight the surviving 10 pairs undergo terrifying transformations to perform deliciously dark dances which they hope will bewitch judges and voting viewers alike. It promises to be a feast of twinkle-toed trick or technical treat. But who will be kept alive and kicking in the competition? And for whom will the Halloween church bell toll?<\/p>\n It\u2019s supernatural showtime at 6.35pm on BBC<\/a> One. I\u2019ll be liveblogging from 6.05pm, providing build-up, rolling coverage, analysis, reaction and pumpkin-spiced asides. So pour yourself a magic potion 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 open for bwa-ha-ha banter. I\u2019ll zombie-walk down there whenever I can to see what you\u2019re all saying, quoting some of your Halloween wit and wisdom up top. So please don\u2019t be shy about sharing your thoughts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s week six and it\u2019s going to be a scream. Nearly time to staaaart spooky dancing!<\/p>\n