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Strictly Come Dancing 2021: Week 4 – Sara Davies tangos to the top of the leaderboard

Sara Davies scored an impressive four 9s for her powerful tango - BBC
Sara Davies scored an impressive four 9s for her powerful tango - BBC

She was dead last in Week 1, but the entrepreneur’s unbeatable work ethic resulted in a triumphant tango on Saturday night. With a score of 36, Sara Davies became the belle of the ballroom, and won praise for being such a good student. Bravo! But it was a more muted show otherwise, with none of last week’s euphoric 10s, and the judges cracking the whip when it came to technique. Perhaps everyone was also feeling the loss of Robert Webb, who left the show for health reasons, and Ugo Monye, taking a week off because of a back injury.

In the battle of the 90s nostalgia dances, Dan Walker won out over Greg Wise. The former committed to his MC Hammer cha cha cha, while Wise began his Macarena samba with several errors and never really recovered. He’s now in danger of landing in the dreaded dance-off, as is Judi Love after a sincere but limited waltz. Or will the public disagree with the judges? Join us for the results show on Sunday night on BBC One at 7:10pm to find out.

High fashion, lower scores

“Very literal” said Rose Ayling-Ellis of her headwear for this week’s cha cha cha set to Prince’s Raspberry Beret. Well, yes, welcome to Strictly. Although it was her incredible purple (rain) fringed trousers that stole the show, and they got quite a workout thanks to some cheeky hip action. It was a trying week for Ayling-Ellis after her hearing aid broke, and this wasn’t a perfect number – a few nerves, a few mistakes, slightly timid – but a definite improvement in her Latin, although a drop in scores from her Movie Week foxtrot.

Meanwhile, Tom Fletcher had his first foray into ballroom, and the glamorous Fred and Ginger styling, along with Fly Me to the Moon, helped create an old-school ambience. But technically there’s lots to work on still; like Ayling-Ellis, his scores were more conservative. We often see this tougher judging scrutiny after a theme week.

Don’t mess with Tilly Ramsay

Tilly Ramsay channels dad Gordon in a fiery paso doble
Tilly Ramsay channels dad Gordon in a fiery paso doble

Her performances have all been very sweet so far, but Tilly Ramsay found a much spicier flavour for this intense paso doble. “She’s listened to her father, she’s grumpy!” crowed judge Anton Du Beke, who was “swept away” by her performance. Shirley Ballas loved her flamenco action and focus, and Motsi Mabuse praised her attack.

But Craig Revel Horwood wasn’t convinced: he thought the dance lacked tone and drama. That contentious split was reflected in the scores, with Ballas and Du Beke awarding 9s, but Revel Horwood just a 6. Never mind Hell’s Kitchen – if you can’t take the heat, get off the Strictly judging panel.

From Bond to bombed

Greg Wise sporting horrendous pastel ruffled sleeves. - BBC
Greg Wise sporting horrendous pastel ruffled sleeves. - BBC

Oh dear. Last week Greg Wise played the suave super spy; this week, he sported horrendous pastel ruffled sleeves and shook his bottom to the Macarena. The judges weren’t having it. Mabuse said his face was having a samba party, but not his body. Ballas called it awkward-looking and uncoordinated. And Revel Horwood said he looked like he’d just come out of a double hip replacement operation. OUCH. Du Beke was kinder – perhaps because, as many Strictly watchers observed, it wasn’t long ago that he was the one wearing the ruffled sleeves…

Practically perfect in every way

Sara Davies was back in Dragon mode for a powerful tango, which began in moody black and white. Ballroom is definitely her strength: other than her head placement, the judges were in raptures over her technique, as well as partner Aljaz Skorjanek’s teaching and choreography. It even prompted Revel Horwood to quip that he now understood why former Strictly pro Janette Manrara had married him. (One imagines there were other reasons too…)

Scoring an impressive four 9s, Davies sailed past former pack leaders John Whaite and AJ Odudu. The former caused some confusion with a more free-flowing American smooth, which Revel Horwood likened to a night spent clubbing in Heaven, while Odudu came unstuck with the tricky samba. But this is surely just a dip for the talented pair. Likely more in danger is Judi Love, whose emotional waltz, dedicated to her late parents, won praise for its heartfelt sentiment, but low scores for execution.

Stop! Walker time

Dan Walker confronted his adolescent trauma by heading back to school; alas, he was too shy to dance to U Can’t Touch This at his teenage discos. That inspired the theme for their cha cha cha, although I don’t know how many 16-year-olds wore mud-coloured waistcoats, clown shirts and shiny pink bow ties; that’s surely more off-putting than any movement anxiety. While Wise refrained from doing the actual Macarena in his routine, Walker chucked in plenty of classic MC Hammer moves, albeit in awkward dad-dancing fashion. The judges praised his self-belief and commitment, though were less convinced by the actual Latin dance.

Equally enthusiastic was Rhys Stephenson as a salsa-ing popcorn seller. But, per Du Beke, his mile-a-minute dance was “a bit brisk for me, dear”, with big steps that limited the crucial hip action - and not for the first time. Can Stephenson find more range, or is every number going to feel like the same overeager, street-dancing Duracell Bunny?

Swim while you’re winning

“This dance is set in an abandoned swimming pool”: words you can only hear on Strictly. Olympian Adam Peaty plunged into the deep end with the first Argentine tango of the season, and included a strange plank lift that made partner Katya Jones look like a human diving board. In fact, this routine was pretty much all lifts – Peaty can skip weight lifting tomorrow. The judges were very impressed by the risk-taking: a big comeback from his dismal Avatar rumba last week.

It’s divided the viewing public, though. Some, like me, thought it was too light on actual tango. After all, this isn’t Strictly Come Partner Juggling.

Craig Revel Horwood has a contrary night

We all love the mean judge’s drawls and panto putdowns – it’s part of the fabric of Strictly. But he seemed to be going out of his way to pick a fight this week, disagreeing with his fellow judges on almost every routine, moaning about Mabuse yelling in German during Davies’ tango, and making not one but two snarky references to her shoulder-padded jumper. Let’s hope he gets out of that disaaaaahstrous mood before the next show.