Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left in stitches during Saturday’s first-ever Instant Dance challenge, which many fans described as “chaotic.”
During the segment, couples discovered live on air which of their previous dances they would perform, followed by a frantic scramble to select costumes. Celebrities and their professional partners were banned from speaking and given just ten seconds on the dance floor to discuss their routine before the music started. Judges’ scores were then added to each couple’s main total.
The confusion extended to the studio itself, with judges swapping seats and host Claudia Winkleman wearing a quirky fruit hat. Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the mayhem, urging the show to make it a regular feature:
- “This is pure chaos and I love it!”
- “The chaos!”
- “The Instant Dance is chaos and it hasn’t even started yet!”
- “This is chaos… do it every week!”
- “The Instant Dance challenge is carnage but so much fun!! I’m loving this.”
After the challenge, the judges awarded Lewis Cope the full six points, followed by Balvinder Sopal with five, Amber Davies with four, Alex Kingston with three, George Clarke with two, and Karen Carney with one point.
Earlier in the episode, fans were left “gutted” for Alex Kingston after the actress struggled during her disco-themed cha-cha with partner Johannes Radebe, 38, and appeared to suffer a painful injury.
The Doctor Who star, 62, looked clearly disappointed after making several mistakes, scoring just 24 out of 40 points and landing at the bottom of the leaderboard. Despite the slip-up, Alex took it in stride, attributing it to “fatigue.”
Judge Oti Mabuse quipped: “One mistake I can forgive, two mistakes I’ll look the other way, three mistakes? I am not Mother Christmas!”
Later, speaking to host Claudia Winkleman, an emotional Alex reflected on the physical toll of dancing:
“It’s never really discussed when you’re at the sharp end, how our bodies are suffering. My 62-year-old self is saying, ‘What are you doing?’ but my spirit and soul is saying [puts finger in ears] la la la, I don’t want to know, I want to keep dancing.”
Fans took to X to show support, posting comments like:
- “Gutted for Alex. Just got really staggered and a bit all over the place. But she showed such humility during the judges’ comments.”
- “I’m gutted for Alex.”
- “Poor girl, so many mistakes, at least she kept going.”
- “I want to give Alex a hug.”
Later, viewers noticed Alex limping and expressed concern that she might be forced to withdraw from the competition.
- “Why is Alex limping? If she’s hurt, surely it’s not a good idea to continue dancing?”
- “Sorry, it’s clear something is wrong with Alex. She’s literally limping just walking! Someone get the girl a medic! Even if she makes it through, this might be the end of the road.”
‘I really hope Alex is alright. She seems to be limping quite badly’: ‘Poor Alex looked like she was limping after choosing her outfit! Hope she’s ok’: ‘Poor Alex is limping’: ‘Was Alex limping then?’.
Following Alex’s perfomance influencer George Clark took to the floor for a quickstep alongside pro partner Alex Warr, after receiving his first ever 10 last week.
Judges Oti, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke were full of praise for the. ‘classy’ routine, despite him also making a few mistakes.
Oti in particular gushed over George, and said he was a ‘step up from everyone’ ahead of next week’s semi-final, as the panel scored the routine 34 out of 40.
Then it was the turn of Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope and Katya Jones who performed a sizzling rumba, which saw them nab an impressive 36 out of 40.
Following four weeks in the dance-off EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal risked once again being in the bottom two after she again made numerous slip-ups.
The soap actress performed a jive with Julian Caillon, which Anton described as “super, apart from the mistakes”, before the judges awarded them 28 out of 40 points.
Footballer Karen Carney then danced her couple’s choice with Carol Gu, delivering a heartfelt tribute to her beloved mum, who has supported her throughout her career.
Pro Carlos was moved to tears after their vibrant routine earned them their first-ever perfect 40, jokingly saying, “[Karen] loves dancing more than me!”
Finally, Love Island star Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin also scored full marks for their jive.
While Shirley described their performance as leaving her “speechless”, Craig played it cool before teasing, “Now for the truth, darling…” and adding with flair, “fab-u-lous!”