Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman dropped the bombshell during Sunday night’s show (November 23), telling viewers: “I’m just going to say this out loud, the competition is ramping up. Strictly has a brand new challenge.”
For the first time, the stars will take on the Instant Dance next week, a twist that sees contestants randomly pick a dance style and perform it on the spot, with no preparation.
A voiceover teased the high-stakes drama to come: “At this crucial point in the competition, it’s a chance to gain extra marks and completely flip the leaderboard. It’s the ultimate test of how much they’ve learned and how well they are in sync with their partners. With a place in the quarter-final at stake, the spotlight will be brighter than ever.”
Claudia told the cast they had “no idea” which style their envelopes contained, adding excitedly: “It’s going to be fantastic!”
But not everyone was convinced as former Love Island star Amber Davies looked terrified, laughing: “Is it going to be fantastic?” before admitting she expected pure “chaos.” Her pro partner, Nikita Kuzmin, however, was up for the challenge. “Imagine live TV, you don’t know the dance, the costume, the song… nothing,” he said. “And the best part? Nobody can stop you!”
YouTuber George Clarke also took it in good humour, saying: “I think it’ll be a laugh. I mean, it will go awfully — but either I’m upset or I’m having a good time, so I’ll just try and smile.”
Meanwhile viewers at home raged on social media over the series as they said it was “so bad” and threatened to quit watching the show altogether. One wrote: “Strictly has been so bad this year that I might give up. No one is endearing. I’m not cheering for any contestant. The show is dead in the water.”
Another shared: “This Strictly series is quite possibly the worst.” A third also remarked: “Dare I say this is the worst Strictly season yet.”
It comes as this series of Strictly has been it’s most chaotic yet, with many contestants having to leave the compeition due to injury, on Saturday, La Voix became the latest to drop out.
The drag queen’s departure was announced by presenter Tess Daly at the start of Saturday’s episode from Blackpool, saying she had had to withdraw on medical advice.
It had been reported earlier that she could not perform on Saturday but there had been hopes she would return next week with dance partner Aljaž Škorjanec.
“This isn’t the ending I imagined, but I’ll cherish this forever,” the performer, 45, said in a post on Instagram.. As a result, no one will be eliminated in a dance-off on this week’s show, with the votes being carried over.
