Strictly leaves viewers in tears with one of the most emotional episodes in the show’s history

Strictly Come Dancing fans can usually count on the show for bringing glamour and sparkle to our dreary autumnal nights, but tonight’s show hit somewhat differently with two emotional moments that left fans, celebrities, and even the judges in floods of tears.

The series, which is now well over the halfway point, saw the eight remaining couples battle it out on the dancefloor for their chance to dance in the iconic Blackpool ballroom next weekend. But before anyone can think about sticks of rock and kiss-me-quick hats, there was some serious footwork to get through if they wanted to impress the judges enough to make it through another week.

Things were ticking along happily in the first half of the show, with Vicky’s beloved dogs making an appearance in her VT, along with Karen beaming as she got a visit from her Lioness friend Beth Mead. But it wasn’t until George and Alexis prepared to dance their rumba that fans were left heartbroken as the YouTube star shared that his mum is battling cancer.

Speaking about the recent diagnosis, George said: “Nobody deserves what she has gone through, but least of all her. It feels like it’s taking up so much of her life now.”

He also revealed that this isn’t the first time his mum has been fighting health problems. George added: “When I was 16, I was about to leave for hockey practise with my dad and he said ‘Oh, I’ll just check on mum one more time,’ because she was feeling a bit ill. He went upstairs and she was having a seizure. She was diagnosed with a brain inflammation called encephalitis.”

BBC

George then dedicated his rumba to his mum, admitting that the song that they were dancing to, Lily Allen’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ was very special to his family because his sister also sang it at his grandad’s funeral.

As the pair took to the dancefloor, fans were in floods of tears after finding out what George has been coping with behind the scenes of Strictly and took to social media to share their thoughts.

“George’s VT and dance actually had me in tears – that was beautiful,” said one fan. While another added: “I’m crying my eyes out at George’s story about his mum on Strictly.”

One fan made reference to the fact Craig was hard on George and Alexis, only scoring them 6 for the emotional dance, claiming it was ‘technically not great’ and ‘not a rumba’. They said: “I don’t care about the scores this week. George did so incredibly and I was in tears.”

Others agreed that this dance was about more than just the scoring, it was about George making his family proud: “George and Alexis’ rumba – what a lovely way to project your feelings to your mum. The story was fantastic, forget what the judges think, it’s about delivering a performance to who it matters most.”

BBC/World of Wonder/Guy Levy

Chris and dad Richard on RuPaul’s Drag Race

But that wasn’t the only emotional moment of the night. Just as fans recovered from one moving story, it was onto the next as La Voix and Aljaž shared a VT with La Voix’s dad.

In between seeing Aljaž and La Voix – this time as Chris – rehearsing their dance, Chris took his dance partner and his dad (already beloved of fans following his appearance with La Voix on RuPaul’s Drag Race) through all of his alter ego’s clothes, talking about what each outfit means to him. But it was when Chris pulled out his mum’s wedding dress that his dad broke down in tears, and it was revealed that Chris’s mum passed away earlier this year.

Fans were in bits over the revelation, and as La Voix and Aljaž took to the dance floor with their Couples Choice, viewers shared their heartache.

“Oh man La Voix’s relationship with her dad always brings me to tears, what a man,” said one fan.

Another agreed: “La voix’s dad crying at seeing the wedding dress oh I’m sick.” While another viewer added: “How lovely and supportive is La Voix’s dad? I couldn’t cope when he started tearing up at the wedding dress.”

Next week will see the show heading to Blackpool and no one wants to go home. But with the standard of dancing getting better and better each week, have George and La Voix done enough to make it through the dreaded dance off?

Strictly Come Dancing is on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC1 and afterwards on iPlayer.

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