Strictly Come Dancing week eight results – live
Craig gets the casting vote
Traitors castle comes to Borehamwood
Judges threw the rulebook at two pairs
Can survivor Jaime defy the odds again?
Who will miss out on the Blackpool bonanza?
Thank you and a glittery goodnight - for now
Readers’ verdicts are in
From spinning waltzes to spinning wheels
The Dogfather would surely approve I
Hold your calls, it’s the Golden Glitterballs
Those week eight standings
Credits roll
The casting vote goes to…
And the vote is… open!
Jaime and Carlos’ Charleston
Will and Dianne’s paso doble
Lacey and Vito’s foxtrot
Delta and Aljaž’s Argentine tango
Cach and Maddie’s Charleston
Tabby and Mark’s Viennese waltz
John and Katya’s jive
Dani and Nikita’s paso doble
Graeme and Lauren’s quickstep
Our Strictly stars™
Judges are in the building
Frockwatch
Aaaaand we’re off!
On your dance cards tonight
Ballroom turns into the Traitors castle tomorrow
Eyes down for Strictly bingo
Quick, somebody book Rylan for Strictly 2027
Who might miss out on a seaside minibreak?
Winstone in, Widdrington out
The ballroom battle for Blackpool is on
It was announced on last night’s live show that this week, the judge with the deciding dance-off vote is… drumroll please… dramatic pause… Craig Revel Horwood.
At least we can rely on Craig for sensible decision-making *hard stare at certain other judges*. It’s 15 minutes until we’re back in the ballroom…
There’s something of a treacherous theme to tonight’s results show, with a voice cameo from The Traitors US host Alan Cumming during the professionals’ group dance, plus a musical performance from Celebrity Traitors winner Sebastian “Bash” Croft.
It completes a busy day for castle fans after Professor Hannah Fry appeared on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs this morning (well worth catching up on BBC Sounds if you missed it).
The time for talking is over. It’s 20 minutes until the glittery curtain comes up…
I enjoyed this summary of last night’s live show from reader davidargile:
Caught up with last night’s show, not bad, a few things I noticed: Josh dressed/reminded of a poo emoji, Jojo nicked someone’s curtains and used them as his outfit but it’s Jojo so he can get away with it.
Dances I thought were good: Tabby, good dance overall, Jaime and Carlos, she gave it her all and came back well, Stacey/Lacey and Vito, even though they stated it wasn’t the correct type of dance I still thought it was good, shame they marked it harshly. And lastly, Cach and Maddie, really good and deserved to be top of the leaderboard,
Things I didn’t like: Will with his stompy thing, the Dogfather, he could be in trouble, and Irish footy guy but he’ll be fine.
It was another turbulent night in the ballroom for the judging panel. After last week’s scattergun scoring, this time it was rule-breaking that caused a stir. Dani and Nikita’s paso doble was penalised for illegal lifts, while Lacey and Vito’s foxtrot was deemed too much like an American smooth in content.
Both couples duly ended up in the bottom half of the leaderboard. Could this prove costly for either couple? It’s 25 minutes until spangly showtime…
Coming into this weekend, bookmakers’ firm favourite for elimination was Jaime Winstone, who has already survived three dance-offs. But bouncing back strongly from injury, Jaime’s 33-point Charleston was her second highest scoring dance and took her to third on the leaderboard.
Enough to keep her clear of danger? Half an hour until we get our first clues…
The sparkly charabanc north to the Tower Ballroom is about to depart – but one pair will be left behind. Good evening and welcome to the latest elimination from Strictly Come Dancing 2026. I’m Michael, your sparkly cyber sidekick for tonight’s results show. You are warmly invited to watch along with me as somebody suffers Blackpool heartbreak.
Our nifty nine pro-celebrity pairings will be cruelly cut down to an excellent eight. The judges’ scores have been combined with the public vote and tonight the bottom two will dance-off for survival. So who’s at risk of seaside sorrow?
On last night’s eventful live show, Cash Mercer’s Charleston notched a near-perfect 39 points, the highest score of the series so far. Delta Goodrem was in second spot after a late partner switch for her Argentine tango, while Jaime Winstone bounced back from injury to finish third.
Graeme Hall, Lacey Turner and Will Best were left tied at the bottom of the standings. But will voting viewers agree? If not, the likes of John Nellis could be in for a seaside surprise.
It’s results show o’clock at the very-slightly-later-time of 7.15pm on BBC One. I’ll be liveblogging from 6.45pm, providing build-up, rolling coverage, analysis, reaction and donkey-riding asides. So inflate your water wings, don your Victorian bathing costume and I’ll see you on the sofa.
As always, I’d love to hear from you too. You can tweet/“X” me @michaelhogan, contact me on Bluesky or Threads @michaelhogan100, email me michael.hogan.freelance@guardian.co.uk and the comments section below is open for pre-Blackpool badinage. I’ll swivel down there from time to time to eavesdrop on the chat and quote your wise words up top.
You can almost taste the fish and chips on that sandy Pleasure Beach. Nearly time to staaaaaart seaside eliminating!
Who’s Tower Ballroom-bound and who’s doomed for minibreak heartbreak? I fear for Graeme Hall and Will Best. After that plucky, stylish Charleston performance, I truly hope Jaime Winstone is safe.
That concludes Saturday’s live hoofing action but we’ll be back on dance detail tomorrow. The results show airs at the very-slightly-later time of 7.15pm Sunday on BBC One. I’ll reopen up the blog at 6.45pm for build-up. Hope you’ll rejoin me then. In the meantime, I’m @michaelhogan on Twitter/X, so please do shoulder-shimmy past and say hi.
Thanks for watching along with me and your ever-excellent company. Meet you here tomorrow to see who’s missing the Blackpool megabus. In the meantime, it’s the fabulous family motto: keeeeeep dancing! Goodnight.
Finally, MereMortal says: “Cach and his partner Maddie are really the ones that I most enjoy watching. Cach moves like he’s generating the dance from his innermost being. He doesn’t look like he’s trying to remember what to do, he’s just in it and causing it to happen. That Charleston was extraordinary. So rhythmic, so flowing, just a joy. I’m so pleased they got 39 for it.”
Sebnose says: “Dear lord, I’ve downed way too much port, I’m actually contemplating rummaging through the attic for my Robbie album where he does all the old standards, including this.”
wgcolvin says: “After all the negative comments about the three hosts at the beginning, they are definitely settling down very nicely indeed. Having two on the floor doing the intros works much better than Tess doing all the work on her own.”
CasLass says: “That balcony is rowdy as hell. Jojo leading a can-can to chants of ‘Blackpool, Blackpool’ is pure joy. I’m loving this new trio.”
fihema says: “Oh look! Keira Knightley’s husband’s in the audience. I wonder if he’s brought a beef wellington?”
MikeMoonlight adds: “I know that the BBC is having to make drastic cuts but making the Strictly contestants build their own set is going a bit too far.”
ladyglecora says of Will Best’s paso doble: “Zoolander vibes from Will there. Camp as Christmas and about as Spanish as Benidorm.”
Epithelialcell66 says: “Follow the rules for Aunty Shirley, Vito. B ut what about Dani’s illegal lifts earlier?”
Jockette61 adds: “Once again, Shirley allows rule infringements for one contestant and dings two others for breaking the rules. So inconsistent and biased.”
wgcolvin says: “Smalltown Boy is a gay classic. I felt it was almost a song made for me. I would love to hear how he would write it now. But at the time is was so groundbreaking, never had a song been written and be a hit that described how being gay in the late 70s/80s felt. My exit route was NI to England in 85, the difference was A-MAZ-ING.”
MikeMoonlight says of Carlos’ outfit: “Good to see Eric Morecambe’s sock suspenders from his ‘There Ain’t Nothing Like A Dame’ routine making a well-deserved comeback.”
LazyMillennial adds: “If I tore a muscle, any muscle, I would absolutely not be dancing an amazing sexy Chicago charleston the very next week.”
YodaKnowsAll says: “As per Josh, seems like Jojo’s Dojo has won!!!”
emilyscatnaps adds: “I knew they loved us lol”
Somersetlass says: “What a comeback for Jaime! Some terrific synchronisation and loads of fun. Love her bond with Carlos too.”
TallulahBankhead says: “Jaime looks great, and while I’m not a great fan of the Charleston, I thought that was very tidily done.”
LazyMillennial adds: “A good show tonight. Cach’s Charleston was the best dance I’ve seen on Strictly in ages. It’s almost a shame that the ‘reward’ is a trip to Blackpool.”
MikeMoonlight says: “‘On the results show, there will be a musical performance from Traitors finalist....Bash Croft’. Well, that’s a relief. I thought they were going to announce James Blunt.”
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.