Strictly Come Dancing fans were left reeling after Claudia Winkleman made a surprise announcement on Sunday night.
The BBC show returned to screens on the weekend for the second week in the three month long competition.
After all the contestants who had made it through to the next round sat on the blue sofa in the Clauditorium, host Claudia dropped a huge bombshell about what would be happening the following week.
Turning to professional dancer Gorka Marquez and his celebrity partner, Dr Punam Krishan, she revealed: ‘Gorka, you two are doing the first couples choice of the series.’
Gorka, who has been dating former Strictly contestant Gemma Atkinson for six years, answered: ‘What we are doing, it’s for the first time. This dance style has never been done before’.
Strictly Come Dancing fans were left reeling after Claudia Winkleman made a surprise announcement on Sunday night
After all the contestants who had made it through to the next round sat on the blue sofa, Claudia dropped a huge bombshell when speaking to professional dancer Gorka Marquez and his celebrity partner, Dr Punam Krishan
Refusing to give anymore away, the other contestants shared their delight with a flurry of gasps.
However, not everybody was happy with the couples choice being allowed so early in the competition, and some viewers took to X to vent their frustration:
‘No. Absolutely no need for a couples choice in week 3 #SCD #Strictly’
‘Couples choice is just a blank canvas to hand out high scores and save somebody. It needs binned. #strictly’
‘Couples choice in the 3rd week. Ridiculous. #StrictlyComeDancing’
The couples choice category was first introduced in series 16 where couples were originally given a choice between three different styles of dance to perform – contemporary, theatre/jazz and street/commercial.
Those three styles were used until Series 19, where the couple’s choice then became a freestyle dance and no longer restricted to a specific style of dance.
Also in the results show, viewers were also left reeling after Olympic swimmer Tom Dean was the first celebrity to be eliminated from the dancing competition.
Revealing that the couples choice would be returning with Spaniard and his partner doing it for week three, Gorka revealed their dance choice ‘has never been done before’
Some viewers were not happy that the couples choice was being allowed so early in the competition and took to X to vent their frustration
The couples choice category was first introduced in series 16 where couples were originally given a choice between three different styles of dance to perform but changed in series 19 to a freestyle dance (pictured: Punam and Gorka on Saturday night)
Olympic swimmer Tom Dean was the first celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2024 during Sunday night’s results show
Triple Olympic gold medallist Tom, 24, and his pro partner Nadiya Bychkova, 35, have left the competition following a tense dance off against Toyah Willcox and professional Neil Jones
The triple Olympic gold medallist Tom, 24, and his pro partner Nadiya Bychkova, 35, left the competition following a tense dance off against Toyah Willcox and professional Neil Jones.
After both couples performed their routines again, the judges delivered their verdicts with Craig Revel Horwood choosing to save Toyah and Neil.
Motsi Mabuse chose to save Toyah and Neil while Anton Du Beke chose to save Tom and Nadiya.
With two votes for Toyah and Neil, and one vote for Tom and Nadiya, head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and chose to save Toyah and Neil.
When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Tom said: ‘I’ve had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible.
‘I wish I could have gone further and done more dances.
‘I’ve had the most fun and I wish we could keep going longer and longer. We’ll still go out for loads of brunches I’m sure.’
Tom’s professional dance partner Nadiya added: ‘To get to know him, he’s not just a three-time Olympic champion he’s a true gentleman and he taught me how to work really hard and how to put everything in.
Both couples performed their routines again; Tom and Nadiya took on their Cha Cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire then Toyah and Neil performed their Jive to Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner
With two votes for Toyah and Neil, and one vote for Tom and Nadiya, head judge Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and chose to save Toyah and Neil
When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Tom said: ‘I’ve had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible’
‘And you know what? On this programme, sometimes to win, you don’t need to win, and that’s how I feel this year.’
It comes after some viewers were left ‘feeling sick’ following a bizarre comment made by judge Craig Revel Horwood.
During Saturday night’s performances, iust before Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri and her professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec perform their Viennese Waltz on Saturday night, Craig chatted with host Tess Daly about the pair’s previous dance.
Tess said: ‘There’s only really one way to describe our social media star, isn’t there, Craig?’
Craig replied: ‘Skibidi rizz, darling. Ski-bi-di rizz!’
According to Urban Dictionary, the phrase is the ‘is the second-highest level of Rizz’, a Gen-Z diminutive version of the word ‘charisma’.
It comes after some viewers were left ‘feeling sick’ following a bizarre comment made by judge Craig Revel Horwood on Saturday night
The remaining 14 couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the Movie Week Special.
Other definitions include the ‘charisma displayed by a male to a female’ at the start of a conversation, whilst the whole term seems to just be a nonsense joke.
But viewers were not impressed with the show’s apparent attempt to appeal to younger members of their audience as they flooded social media with reactions.
Tom and Nadiya will be joining Fleur East and Janette Manrara for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday.
