Strictly Come Dancing fans spotted a string of on-screen blunders from hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman during Saturday’s Blackpool special, after sharing the surprise news that the dance-off had been axed.
Fans were stunned when it was revealed that none of the remaining six couples would be eliminated this week, after La Voix was forced to withdraw from the show due to injury.
While Tess and Claudia made the announcement at the beginning of the show, eagle-eyes viewers noticed that this change to proceedings may have led to some awkward blunders during the rest of the show.
Tess was the first to slip up, while speaking to former Strictly finalist Ashley Roberts in the audience at Blackpool’s iconic Tower Ballroom.
The star let slip that Ashley would be performing ‘later on’, when her performance was set to be in the results show, which is typically painted as being filmed on a Sunday.
She said: ‘We can’t wait to see you perform later on. Thank you so much for coming. Up next…’
Strictly Come Dancing fans spotted a string of on-screen blunders from hosts Tess Daly (pictured) and Claudia Winkleman during Saturday’s Blackpool special
There was then a long pause as Tess continued to look at a fixed area on the screen, suggesting their may have been a problem with her teleprompter.
Claudia later made a similar mistake near the end of the episode, as instead of reminding fans watching from home that nobody would be going home tomorrow night, she said that nobody would be going home ‘tonight’.
It’s lesser-known among wider fans that Strictly pre-record their results episode on the same night as their live show.
After running through the leaderboard positions at the end of the show, Claudia said: ‘Remember, nobody is going home tonight,’ before continuing on.
Some fans noticed the blunder, with posts on X including: ‘Oops, Claudia slipped up and said tonight instead of tomorrow night;
‘Oops! Claudia saying no one is going home tonight;’
‘Did Tess’s batteries run out or something?’
‘Someone needs to put 50p in Tess.’
Fans were stunned when it was revealed that none of the remaining six couples would be eliminated this week, after La Voix was forced to withdraw from the show due to injury
While Tess and Claudia made the announcement at the beginning of the show, eagle-eyes viewers notied that this change to proceedings may have led to some awkward blunders
Tess was the first to slip up, while speaking to former Strictly finalist Ashley Roberts in the audience, saying she would be performing ‘later on’
Claudia made a similar mistake near the end of the episode, as instead of reminding fans that nobody would be going home tomorrow night, she said that nobody would be leaving ‘tonight’
Some fans noticed the gaffes, and shared their reactions on X
As the show kicked off, Tess and Claudia dazzled in stunning ballgowns for their last ever Blackpool Week – after the duo announced they are leaving the show after the end of this series.
However Strictly fans were met with disappointing news as the pair confirmed that La Voix had been told by medics she could not continue on with the competition.
The drag queen was spotted in the front row of the audience looking forlorn as the announcement was made.
Minutes later the remaining celebrities were left shocked as Tess revealed that nobody would be going home this week, with the dance off cancelled and all scores rolling over to next week’s show.
Taking to Instagram minutes after the announcement of her exit was made, La Voix shared a statement.
She wrote: ‘I’m absolutely devastated to be withdrawing from Strictly Come Dancing. This isn’t the glittering exit I ever imagined, and it breaks my heart to feel like I’ve let people down.
‘My spirit wanted to keep dancing but my foot had other ideas! Thank you for every cheer, every vote and every sparkle of support – it’s meant the world to me. This isn’t the ending I imagined but I’ll cherish this forever.’
First to take to the dance floor was Lewis Cope and his professional partner Katya Jones who performed a Charleston.
The astounding dance gave Lewis his second perfect score of 40, after he was the first celebrity to achieve it this series.
Next up was Balvinder Sopal and her dance partner, newbie Julian Caillon, with a very racy Argentine Tango.
Despite looking disappointed with her performance, Balvinder impressed the judges, with Motsi Mabuse calling her the ‘comeback queen’ – as a result of facing four dance offs.
Balvinder came back with a bang and achieved her highest score of the series so far, with three eights and a nine.
Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin then performed a bouncy Quickstep to S Club 7 hit Reach For The Stars.
As is tradition with Blackpool week, the celebrities were joined on the dance floor by a group of other professional dancers.
Craig was met with a sea of boos as he criticised Amber’s gapping but he went on to say her timing and ability to cover the floor were ‘exceptional’. The pair scored 36 out of 40.
Lewis Cope earned his second 40 of the series as he kicked off Strictly’s Blackpool show, after impressing with his Charleston with Katya Jones
Next to perform were Lioness Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu, who danced a very dramatic Paso Doble, and the dance was met with a standing ovation from the crowd – as did Motsi and Shirley.
‘Darling that’s how you score a goal that’s for sure. Insane,’ said Craig, before Motsi added: ‘I do not have a paddle that can express how good that dance was.’
Meanwhile Shirley said the show will go down in history and Anton said he wished he could score her 25 points. She bagged a score of 39 for the dance.
Alex Kingston and her partner Johannes Radebe were next with their Couple’s Choice dance, a glamorous and sultry number – for which they scored 35 points.
George Clarke closed the iconic Blackpool show with a salsa, accompanied by his dance partner Alexis Warr.
The YouTuber impressed the judges with his energy in the routine, with Shirley hailing it a ‘new day with a new George and a new vibe’. She confessed she wasn’t expecting that level of performance from him.
The pair achieved a huge score of 39 for the routine, their highest yet.
