Live blog: Week 9 for Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly!

Posted on November 20, 2021 by



Tonight, deaf actor Rose Ayling-Ellis takes on musicals week, as she and her fellow dancers face their eighth public vote!

Charlie Swinbourne will be live blogging every dance and taking care of the Twitter feed! And Donna Mullings is back as guest dance judge!

Refresh this blog for regular updates, or follow our Twitter account!

Most recent updates posted first – scroll down to go back to the beginning!

19.48 – BBC Breakfast and sport presenter Dan Walker dances with Nadiya Bychkova.

They’re dancing the Charleston to Good Morning from Singin’ In The Rain.

Charlie says: I’m no fan of Dan’s but that was one of his better dances.

What the judges say: Motsi reckons Dan’s pushing out of his comfort zone and is improving his performance skills. Shirley thinks it was his best dance so far.

Donna’s verdict:

Dan & Nadiya – score: 7

Lovely dance to Singing in the Rain!! Dan has a nice long legs and arms, he need to use them more strongly and sharpish!

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 7
Motsi Mabuse 7
Shirley Ballas 9
Anton Du Beke 8

Total: 31

(wk 8: 29 |wk 7: 28 | 6: 27 | wk5: 28 | wk 4: 26 | wk 3: 21 | wk 2: 26 | wk 1: 24)

Watch it:

19.39 – Daughter of Gordon Ramsey, TV presenter, chef, and social media influencer Tilly Ramsey dances with pro Nikita Kuzmin.

They dance the Couple’s Choice to Revolting Children from Matilda.

Charlie says: That was full of energy, didn’t always look sharp but a great performance from Tilly.

What the judges say: Anton says she is brilliant. Cynthia says that was awesome and amazing. Motsi says she is courageous and fearless. Shirley says you couldn’t tell who the professional was.

Donna’s verdict: Tilly and Nikita – score: 8

Fantastic, Tilly did step up her dance and she did brilliantly well in the Matilda’s dance! Love their school uniform!!

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 10
Motsi Mabuse 10
Shirley Ballas 10
Anton Du Beke 10

Total: 40!

(wk 8: 29 |wk 6: 36 | wk5: 36 | wk 4: 32 | wk 3: 27 | wk 2: 34 | wk 1: 21)

Watch it:

19.30 – Baker John Whaite dances with pro dancer Johannes Radebe.

They’re dancing the Viennese Waltz to Chim Chim Cher-ee from Mary Poppins.

Charlie says: My favourite couple, other than the obvious. Mary Poppins just sends me back to my childhood. Parts of that weren’t as smooth as they could have been, I reckon.

Judges verdict: Cynthia says they’re wonderful. Motsi says he’s been consistent but needs to get to the next level.

Donna’s verdict: John & Johannes – score: 8

I love Mary Poppin!!! Lovely storytelling but felt they could have do the quick jive dance rather than the waltz dance but overall they dance beautifully!

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 8
Motsi Mabuse 8
Shirley Ballas 8
Anton Du Beke 8

Total: 32

(wk 8: 38 |wk 7: 35 | 6: 33 | wk5: 38 | wk 4: 29 | wk 3: 39 | wk 2: 31 | wk 1: 30)

Watch it:

19.23 – IT’S TIME FOR ROSE! (can you tell who we are supporting?)

Deaf actor Rose Ayling-Ellis dances with Giovani Perni.

They’re dancing the Quickstep to Love Is An Open Door from Frozen The Musical.

Charlie says: That was fun! Colourful and lively.

What the judges say: Motsi says she felt the joy – and asks for an invite to the wedding! Anton says kids would have loved it. A couple of mentions of the mistakes. Cynthia signs! ‘I think it was joyful’. Lovely.

Donna’s verdict: Rose & Giovanni – score: 9

Love the storytelling!!Quicksteps is not easy but Rose did brilliantly well considering it is her first time! Love the heart ❤️shape in the end!

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 10
Motsi Mabuse 9
Shirley Ballas 9
Anton Du Beke 9

Total: 37

(wk 8: 39 |wk 7: 32 | 6: 40 | wk5: 37 | wk 4: 27 | wk 3: 36 | wk 2: 26 | wk 1: 22)

Watch it:

19.15 – McFly band member, author and actor Tom Fletcher dances with Amy Dowden.

They’re dancing the Couple’s Choice to On My Own from Les Misérable.

Charlie says: Don’t rate Tom highly as a dancer but that was one of his best dances.

What the judges say: Motsi says there was too much control, Tom wasn’t in the moment enough. Shirley says he has style, beauty, she’s trying not to cry. She says he needs to let go, something was ‘held.’ Anton says let it go, enjoy yourself.

Donna’s verdict: Tom & Amy – score: 8

They dance lovely to Les Miserable music with a lovely storytelling but need more to give on the dance floor.

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 7
Motsi Mabuse 8
Shirley Ballas 8
Anton Du Beke 8

Total:  31

(wk 8: 30 |wk 7: 38 | 6: 29 | wk5: 34 | wk 4: 29 | wk 3: 32 | wk 2: N/A | wk 1: 21)

Watch it:

19.01 – CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson dances with Nancy Xu.

They’re dancing the Jive to Footloose from, er, Footloose.

Charlie says: Rhys looked like a pro there!

What the judges say: Anton says his feet were too loose, but everything else was so brilliant he was overwhelmed. Cynthia says there was so much joy there. Motsi says there was an explosion of rhythm and energy. Shirley said he was slightly ahead of the music.

Donna’s verdict: Rhys & Nancy – score: 10

Footloose is one of my fave childhood to watch!!Wow!!! A brilliant jive energetic dance! They have so much energy to give give and give! Love it!

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 8
Motsi Mabuse 8
Shirley Ballas 8
Anton Du Beke 8

Total: 32

(wk 8: 40 |wk 7: 34 | 6: 33 | wk5: 32 | wk 4: 31 | wk 3: 37 | wk 2: 30 | wk 1: 27)

Watch it:

18.54 – TV presenter AJ Odudu dances with Kai Widdrington.

They dance the Waltz to Edelweiss from The Sound Of Music.

Charlie says: Everyone’s on their feet! A spectacular start!

What the judges say: Shirley says it was beautiful music and beautifully executed. Anton says it had wonderful technique. Cynthia says it was wonderful to watch AJ float like that. Motsi says it was beautiful! Going to be high scores here…

Donna’s verdict: AJ & Kai – score: 10

The Sound of Music is my favourite film!! They danced beautifully to the waltz music with embrace and gracefully! Beautiful storytelling!!

Judges scores:

Cynthia Erivo 9
Motsi Mabuse 10
Shirley Ballas 10
Anton Du Beke 9

Total: 38

(wk 8: 28 |wk 7: 39 | wk 6: 37 | wk5: 35 | wk 4: 28 wk 3: 35 | wk 2: 31 | wk 1: 34)

Watch it:

18.41 – As the judges and couples come out, a reminder that Sara was voted out last Sunday.

She followed Judi, Ugo, Greg, Katie and Nina in leaving the show.

Robert also withdrew due to health issues.

Multi-award winning singer and actor Cynthia Erivo will join the judging panel as a guest Judge this weekend due to Craig’s illness.

Rose is still the favourite to win this, but there’s seven couples left in all. And a long way to go…

18.37 – Welcome to this week’s live blog!

Tonight, deaf actor Rose Alying-Ellis returns to the dance floor for week eight of the show after wowing the nation with she and Gio’s silent moment last week!

Our Deaf Guest Dance Judge this week is Donna Mullings! See her in judging mode left!

This is Donna’s second turn in the hot seat this series, and she will be be giving her own score for each of the acts, as they happen!

What will this week bring? We’ll have all the updates here, written by Charlie Swinbourne.

We’ll also be posting videos of each dance shortly after they’ve left the dance floor, via the Strictly twitter account.

If you’ve missed our previous blogs, you can check out last week’s live blog here, week 7 here, week six here, week 5 here, week 4 here, week 3 here, week 2 here, week 1 here and the introductory week here.

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