Strictly Come Dancing’s Seann Walsh and Katya Jones avoided dancing a romantic routine on Saturday night’s episode – instead opting for an energetic, Halloween-themed take on the traditionally intimate Viennese waltz.
The pair danced to I Put A Spell On You by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, an emotional track with lyrics that suggest a fraught romance.
However, the pair eschewed its usually romantic pace, instead opting for a faster, festive routine that included twitchy, sudden limb movements.
The dance was to be the first romantic routine the pair had performed since they made headlines following a kissing scandal.
The duo had been at the centre of a media storm after being pictured locking lips in The Sun newspaper, despite Jones being married and Walsh being in a relationship at the time.
Their routine was not well received by the judges with Craig Revel Horwood telling Walsh he “would end up in the dance-off again”. Last week radio DJ Vick Hope exited the competition after a dance-off with Walsh.
Revel Horwood said: “Timing in this dance is so important. You’ve got every clue in the orchestration. There are timing issues with me everywhere.
“You were lagging all the way through. I felt like you weren’t hearing the music. It was also very skippy. You should try and dance it on one level, if you can. Not your one, I am afraid.”
The beginning of this routine is #Strictly spellbinding 😯✨ @SeannWalsh @Mrs_katjones pic.twitter.com/lXE3ov1PKp
— BBC Spooky 🎃 (@bbcstrictly) October 27, 2018
Dame Darcey Bussell agreed, adding: “The control in the rise and fall, the emphasis is in the music. You really have to iron that out, so it isn’t jerky or skippy, which it did become.
“Wonderful effort and I see the effort is there, it just wasn’t being put into the right areas of the dance.”
Head judge Shirley Ballas said there were a number of elements Seann would have to improve on to stay in the competition.
Bruno Tonioli jokingly suggested the dance had been a version of the comic ballet of Coppelli directed by Tim Burton and danced by the cast of the film Beetlejuice.
Speaking after the dance, Walsh said: “For the first comment to be like that, it was very deflating.
“Especially with all the concepts and choreography that (Katya Jones) comes up with. I just want to get to a week where we smash it.”
The couple scored a cumulative total of 20 points out of a possible 40, placing them joint third last and in danger of being in the dance-off.
Ashley Roberts and Faye Tozer sit at the top of the leaderboard with 39 points each while Dr Ranj Singh, Kate Silverton and Walsh are at risk of leaving tomorrow night after scoring 20 points respectively.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Sunday night on BBC One.