Ashley Roberts and Pasha Kovalev topped the leaderboard with a perfect score after the highly-anticipated Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool show.
The couple’s jive wowed the judges and saw them showered with praise and win 10s across the board on a night of high scores at the Tower Ballroom.
Roberts and Kovalev paid tribute to their surroundings after a fish and chip shop-themed, high-energy routine, which earned the famous comment of “fab-u-lous” from judge Craig Revel Horwood.
Bruno Tonioli joined in the praise, saying the couple made “Strictly history” with their show-stopping performance.
Judges were not shy to award 10s on a show packed with almost-perfect routines, which was opened with a performance by Gloria Estefan.
Charles Venn and Karen Clifton earned a score of 38, putting them in joint second place, for their sizzling samba which saw the actor dubbed “King Charles I of Samba” by Tonioli.
"There are some performances that become part of #Strictly history. That performance was that!" First 40 of #Strictly 2018 for @ImAshleyRoberts @PashaKovalev! 😱 pic.twitter.com/FHkFiMMTkx
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) November 17, 2018
Revel Horwood said he “wasn’t paying attention to the footwork”, and instead was looking at Venn’s physique. Venn said: “I was living out my dream. It was amazing.”
Faye Tozer and Giovanni Pernice danced a fiery Paso Doble, and sealed their place in joint-second with another score of 38, earning two 10s in the process.
Joe Sugg was left emotional after earning the show’s third score of 38, dancing the quickstep with Dianne Buswell while his grandmother watched from the audience.
Stacey Dooley was first to perform and descended on a giant stick of Blackpool rock, before launching into a salsa with Kevin Clifton.
She earned praise from Revel Horwood for her “fantastic” hips as they secured a total of 33 points.
Graeme Swann steered clear of the bottom two this week, with a confident couple’s choice theatre and jazz number with Oti Mabuse. Swann said: “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much love in 90 seconds.”
Facing the dance-off are Kate Silverton and Aljaz Skorjanec, along with Lauren Steadman and AJ Pritchard.