Strictly Come Dancing: Nightmare performance puts Alex Kingston in danger of the dance-off
The actress Alex Kingston endured a nightmare Week 10 as she suffered her lowest score since the opening week – and one of the lowest Week 10 scores in Strictly history. Before this weekend, the conversation was whether Kingston, 62, could make it all the way to the final, which would make her the oldest ever UK Strictly finalist (surpassing Pamela Stephenson, who was 61 in 2010). Instead, she could face the ignominy of competing in her first Sunday-night dance-off.
Only three celebrities have scored lower than Kingston in Week 10. Actor Ricky Groves scored 22 in 2009, comedian Susan Calman scored 21 in 2017, while politician Ann Widdecombe famously scored 14 in 2008. Kingston’s score is also matched by the Week 10 efforts of politician Ed Balls (2016) and Paralympian Lauren Steadman (2018). Of those five low-scoring celebs, only Steadman was not eliminated in Week 10.
More often than not, the cha-cha-cha has tripped contestants up this year, with only Lewis Cope and Amber Davies scoring more than 30 for it. It was no different for Kingston, who made several errors, one of which was an absolute horror as she appeared to forget her steps completely. “It got worse and worse and worse,” said Craig Revel Horwood, who awarded the routine a score of 4. It was a night to remember for others, however, especially Karen Carney and Amber Davies, who both scored perfect 40s.
Kingston will be relieved that, due to there being no dance-off last week, last Saturday’s scores will be added to this week’s. Kingston scored 35. She will also be happy that this week’s innovation – the Instant Dance challenge – may well be the talking point for many. In an often chaotic final 30 minutes, the six couples were given a dance style, a few seconds of discussion, and told to put together a routine. It was madcap, but good fun, and some contestants blossomed – notably the beleaguered Balvinder Sopal.
Tomorrow night’s dance-off will be a heady blend of last week’s judges’ scores and viewer votes, this week’s judges’ scores and viewer votes, plus the Instant Dance score. No one was surprised when Cope won that. It seems he can do no wrong.
See below for how a giddy night unfolded.
