Shirley calls Strictly star “the one to beat” in Blackpool but who will be voted out this weekend?

The first Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool special in three years got off to a bang with Hamza Yassin and his partner Jowita Przystał performing an American Smooth which Shirley Ballas had high praise for.

Fleur East topped this week’s Strictly Come Dancing scores but who will be heading home in this weekend’s results? The 35-year-old singer and her professional partner Vito Coppola wowed the judges with their Couple’s Choice routine, which they performed to the sound of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Megamix’.

Hamza and Jowita performed their dance to Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, with the judges going on to award the couple a whopping 38 points.

In her feedback, Shirley said that Hamza shone “brighter than all the baubles and beads and bangles in the world” before saying he gives “Blackpool such respect”. She went on to praise his footwork and “small nuances”, and, in high praise indeed, added that he was “the one to beat for me”.

The rest of the judges had similarly high praise for Hamza, with Anton calling it “outstanding” and a “beautiful” dance, before adding: “Welcome to Blackpool everybody”.

Will Mellor, Molly Rainford and Tyler West all scored 35 marks for their latest routines. Will was described as a “well oiled machine” by Shirley after his salsa, the “difficult choreography” of Molly’s Jive impressed Motsi and Anton enthused over the “ridiculous” lifts in Tyler’s salsa.

In the bottom two of the judges’ scoreboard were Kym Marsh and Ellie Taylor after dancing the Paso Doble and American Smooth respectively.

Kym was told she was in “warrior mode” after scoring 33 points while Ellie’s routine was described as “elegant” as she received 31 points from the panel.

The pair are in danger of ending up in the dance off – but it could all change as viewers get a chance to vote.

Last week it was Tony Adams and Katya Jones who said goodbye to the contest in the latest dance off.

The results show is on Sunday, 20 November at 7:20PM on BBC One. Sunday’s show will also see the professional dancers perform a poignant opening routine while Sam Ryder will perform in the ballroom.

This week’s Blackpool special sees the celebrities each get extra dancers for their performances and Hamza called it an “absolute honour” to perform at the Tower Ballroom.

Strictly professional dancer Luba Mushtuk previously teased that this week’s Blackpool special would be magical, when speaking to press recently.

She said: “I’m not sure how it is going this year, what’s going to happen. So I still believe that it will be an incredible show because when we go to Blackpool, we always put on the most incredible and biggest show.

“There will be two fantastic group routines, an amazing singer… I can’t wait for people to see who and it will be a magical, magical moment. Because when we’re in Blackpool, it always feels extremely special to be there.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One, with this week’s results show airing on Sunday 20th November at 7:20pm.