Angela Scanlon received her highest score of the series on Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing – and her partner Carlos Gu couldn’t hold back the tears after receiving overwhelming positive comments from the judges following the passionate routine.
The show made its return to the iconic Tower Room in Blackpool, where Angela and Carlos danced the Argentine Tango to a haunting rendition of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.
The intimate dance featured no backing dancers, with intense red and black mood lighting, and plenty of clean flicks and kicks.
It earned the pair an incredible 38 points, with Shirely Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton du Beke all giving the couple perfect 10s.
“Beautiful legs, immaculate styling, my favourite dance of the night,” said Anton. While Motsi said: “Your best number, so much control, incredible”. And Shirley added: “You brought your ultimate performance, precision and instinct. I’m overwhelmed, adored it.”
Craig Revel Horwood, however, commented: “Legs too stiff, not loose enough but the storytelling and partnership, oh my goodness, wonderful,” awarding them an 8/10.
It’s a huge improvement on last week when Angela and Carlos walked away with 28 points for their American Smooth, despite the routine going down a storm with viewers.
Fans were surprised at the judges’ harsh comments. “The clue to this dance is in the name American Smooth and smooth it wasn’t unfortunately,” said Craig. “It just lacked grace. I have to say, I felt like you’d run out of ideas at the end. I don’t think it’s your best.”
While Shirley said the couple were “delightful to watch”, but added there was “no breath in the upper half of the body”.
Fans, on the other hand, took to social media to praise Angela’s performance. One wrote: “Honestly, what were the judges watching. As far as I’m concerned, that was a fabulous dance from Angela S,” while another added: “Feel like they were a bit harsh on Angela S #Strictly.”
This week’s performance left Angela and Carlos in third place on the leaderboard, behind Ellie and Vito and Layton and Nikita.
