Richie Anderson has wowed the judges with his quick step, even winning over the notoriously hard-to-impress Craig Revel Horwood.
Strictly Come Dancing returned on Saturday (1 October) for its second batch of live performances, with Richie taking to the dance floor again with his professional partner Giovanni Pernice.
The duo appeared on stage wearing matching sequin tuxedo jackets, with canes in their hands for a rambunctious dance to Barry Manilow’s “Dancin’ Fool”.
The dance earned the pair huge praise from the judges, even Horwood – who is known to be particularly critical in his feedback.
After giving some pointers on Ritchie’s cartwheel during the performance, Horwood praised the pair.
Motsi Mabuse added: “That was a moment, take it in. absolutely beautiful. Well done, I had fun with that.”
Meanwhile, Shirley Ballas agreed that the dance showed quite a “transformation” for Richie compared to last week’s performance.
Ballas said the dance was “so synchronised and so together”, calling Richie “laser-focused”. She did advise, however, that Richie “work a little bit on the back of your neck for that straight line”.
Anton Du Beke called Richie a “real showman”, adding that the dance was “terrific”.
The pair got the highest score of the night so far, earning a total of 32 points with an 8 from each judge.
Earlier in the evening, Ellie Simmonds received a standing ovation from the judges for her “emotional” waltz.
