Having mastered her early-week jitters, it is somewhat ironic that it was Pattison’s nerves that let her down tonight. Her performance in the dance-off was poor – rushed, out-of-sync and littered with mistakes. All four judges opted to save Sopal and Caillon.
During the judges’ verdicts, Pattison looked as if she might be sick. “This is a horrible place to be,” she had said beforehand.
Unsurprisingly, Sopal tackled the dance-off with no nerves whatsoever. She is an old hand at it now, with this Sunday being her fourth. She becomes only the fifth celebrity to survive four Strictly dance-offs.
Three of them – Jamie Laing, Fleur East and Molly Rainford – went on to be losing finalists. The fourth, pop star Jamelia, is the only celebrity to have ever contested a fifth dance-off, which she lost.
Sopal has the chance to make history in the coming weeks.
Craig Revel Horwood admitted the weekend had been “a let-down”, with low scores and inconsistent performances. His fellow judge Motsi Mabuse put it down to the pressure of not wanting to lose out on performing at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom at the last possible moment.
