The first celebrity has been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2024 after two couples faced the first dance-off of the season. Three-time Olympic champion Tom Dean and his partner Nadiya Bychkova performed their cha cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind and Fire, but unfortunately fell short to popstar Toyah Willcox and her partner Neil Jones. Willcox’s jive to Nutbush City Limits by Ike and Tina Turner impressed all three judges, resulting in Dean leaving the competition.
The evening’s programme also included standout performances from Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri, who received the first scores of nine in the series for her Viennese waltz to Misty Blue by Dorothy Moore. Other standout performances came from JLS star JB Gill and his partner Amy Dowden’s cha cha, which received a score of 27, and opera singer Wynne Evans and partner Katya Jones’ Viennese waltz. Meanwhile, all eyes were on comedian Chris McCausland, the show’s first blind contestant, and DIY SOS star Nick Knowles, who managed to deliver a stand-out performance, despite only having 16 hours of rehearsal time due to an earlier injury.
Last year, a number of former Strictly Come Dancing contestants spoke out about their experiences on the show, triggering an investigation by the BBC. Actress Amanda Abbington claimed that her former dance partner Giovanni Pernice had behaved abusively towards her. The BBC has responded to these complaints by implementing changes behind the scenes, including having chaperones in all rehearsal rooms and two new dedicated welfare producers.
Despite the changes, the BBC director general Tim Davie has refused to give a date for when the report on the investigation will be published, however he has insisted that “we’re pretty close to the end of that work.” More than six million people tuned in for Saturday night’s live show on BBC One
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
