Lewis Cope tops Strictly leader board and wins first Instant Dance challenge

Former Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope has topped the Strictly leader board and won the first Instant Dance challenge.

Saturday night was eventful in the Elstree studios after the BBC dance competition introduced a new challenge which tasked the couples with performing a dance on the spot for the chance to win extra points.

The episode began as normal, with each couple performing their choreographed dances. Cope and his partner Katya Jones danced a rumba to Harry Styles’ Falling.

They received 36 points from the judges.

Head Judge Shirley Ballas said: “I love the chemistry, I love the narrative, and I love the way you told the whole story. So for me, I would say this is one of the very, very good rumbas.  Well done.”

Craig Revel Horwood added: “The hips, I thought lacked a little bit of fluidity and resistance and hold through the four one, that’s what I felt was a little bit missing from this dance. But the composition of that dance was fantastic. Artistry, flair, my darling and full of emotion. I loved it.”

Towards the end of the show, after each couple had performed their choreographed dance, they returned to the dancefloor to learn what dance they would have to perform and the accompanying music for the Instant Dance challenge.

The mystery dance tested their knowledge, as it was one that they learned over the course of the competition and was revealed in an envelope which they picked out last week but did not open until the live show.

They were then given 15 seconds to pick a costume, quickly change backstage, and then given just ten seconds to decide how they were going to perform the dance,

The judges ranked each of the performances, with the best earning six points and the worst earning just one.

The challenge brought chaos and excitement to the dancefloor, with much anticipation from the celebrities, dancers and judges alike at how it would work in real time.

Ballas said it was a very close call for first place, but gave the win to Cope and Katya, who “took chances” on their jive, winning six additional points.

Tied in second place on the leader board was former Lioness Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu, and Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin, who both received perfect scores.

It was the first time Carney and Gu received tens from all the judges, awarded after their couple’s choice to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.

Revel Horwood said: “That dance just got you into the Champions League darling.”

Motsi Mabuse added: “Karen, you did your paso last week and I was like ‘can that get any better?’ But, girl, honestly, this was just everything. This is the step up. This is the next level. This is what I’m talking about. Congratulations.”

They did not do as well in the Instant Dance challenge, landing in sixth place and scoring only one additional point for their cha cha cha.

Meanwhile Davies and Kuzmin also had a perfect score with their jive to Ike and Tina Turner’s Proud Mary.

Revel Horwood described it as “fab-u-lous” while Ballas said she was “speechless”.

They won an extra four points for their samba in the Instant Dance challenge.

At the bottom of the leader board was actress Alex Kingston and her dance partner Johannes Radebe.

They performed a cha cha cha to Anita Ward’s 1979 hit Ring My Bell and scored 23 points.

They won an extra three points in the Instant Dance challenge, performing a rumba.

Meanwhile social media star George Clarke and professional Alexis Warr were fourth on the leader board after dancing a quickstep to Frank Sinatra’s I Get A Kick Out Of You, scoring 34 points from the judges.

They later gained an extra two points for their tango in the Instant Dance.

Actress Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon were fifth on the leader board after scoring 28 points for their jive to Maxine Nightingale’s Right Back Where We Started From.

Judge Anton Du Beke said: “There must be something in the water tonight. It was super really, apart from the mistakes.

“What happens is, when you don’t commit to one leg or the other, you get sort of between the feet, and then get on the wrong foot, and it’s all of that old malarkey, because there was so much to like. You had this enthusiasm, this vivacity.

The couple managed to raise their total score after placing second in the instant dance challenge with a paso doble.

Strictly Come Dancing returns on Sunday night on BBC One with the results show.