EastEnders star Lacey Turner tops Strictly Come Dancing 2026 leaderboard for first time with "stunning" Charleston

Strictly Come Dancing's Lacey Turner scared up a storm for Halloween Week, topping the leaderboard for the very first time.

The EastEnders favourite and her partner Vito Coppola have finished in the middle of the pack for the last couple of weeks, but they soared to the top for their Charleston to Crazy Stupid Love by Cheryl and Tinie Tempah.

Motsi Mabuse labelled it the "best dance of the night" and "stunning", while Anton du Beke said: "Clean, clear, timing was amazing, finished everything – I thought that was great."

Shirley Ballas was similarly complimentary, telling Lacey: "On Week 1, when I looked at you, you were really quite timid and I watched you tonight and you were 'bam bam bam'!

"You shocked me, you had me on the front of my seat and that's a huge improvement – well done!"

Even Craig Revel Horwood was impressed, simply saying: "Lacey, that was good." High praise indeed...

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They scored nines across the board to put them on 36 points – one ahead of John Nellis and Katya Jones in second place.

After Johannes Radebe called her a "late bloomer" following the dance, Lacey joked: "I'm always late but I do come and this is a lovely party so thank you for having me!"

It wasn't such a successful Halloween for last week's leaderboard toppers, Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita, who finished joint bottom tonight with 25 points – a score that was criticised by fans on social media.

They were joined at the foot of the table by Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley, and with three couples set to land in the dance-off this week, they will be desperately hoping for viewer votes.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Sunday 1 November at 7:10pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Christian Tobin is the production editor for Radio Times, overseeing all online content and editing digital articles across TV, Film, Gaming and more. He previously worked as chief sub-editor at Digital Spy and has a BA in English Language and Literature from University College London.