Strictly judges hail Pete Wicks for ‘moving’ dance in memory of his grandmother

Reality TV star Pete Wicks has been praised by the Strictly Come Dancing judges for a “moving” couple’s choice dance performed in tribute to his late grandmother.

The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 36, said in a video clip that the dance, to The Best by Nicotine Dolls, was a “tribute to a person that mattered to me more than anyone”.

Head judge Shirley Ballas said the dance “was not only filled with beautiful movements” but also had “heart” while Craig Revel Horwood said “besides all of the technical stuff, I thought it was absolutely moving and absolutely beautiful”.

The pair were awarded 36 points.

At the beginning of the show TV presenter Claudia Winkleman said everyone at Strictly was sending Amy Dowden “so much love” after it was announced on Monday that she had pulled out of the rest of the competition due to an injury.

“We cannot wait to see you back on this dance floor very, very soon,” she said to a round of applause.

Opening the show this weekend was Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and her dance partner Aljaz Skorjanec, who quickstepped to Fantasy by Mariah Carey.

The pair “offered everything we needed to see in a quick step”, according to Ballas, and they were awarded 37 points from the judges.

After their dance the terms and conditions were read out by RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage who appeared from behind a gold-fringed curtain.

Elsewhere, judge Motsi Mabuse told singer Shayne Ward that his rumba with Nanxy Xu to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper “was not one of your best dances”.

Ballas had a more positive outlook and said the two were beginning to develop a chemistry.

The pair were given 30 points.

Miranda star Sarah Hadland impressed the Strictly judges with a number of “spectacular” lifts when the actress and her professional partner Vito Coppola danced an American Smooth to Proud by Heather Small.

They were awarded 33 points by the judges, who appeared to have some mixed opinions with Revel Horwood criticising Hadland’s hand positions and Ballas asking her to focus on “neater, smaller details”.

In spite of this, the judges also had some positives with Revel Horwood saying: “The cartwheel, darling, into that lift was spectacular.”

Last weekend former Olympic hockey player Sam Quek and professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin were eliminated from the show.

Whoever is voted out during this Sunday’s results programme will miss out on going to Blackpool next week.