Week 3, the Cha Cha Cha, and despite us both thoroughly enjoying our performance, it created some cha-cha-challenging comments from the judges, and a slight hiccup in our thus-far positive progress!…
So, I was a very suave Richard Gere for the evening, and Katie in character as a ravishing Julia Roberts laden with bags of couture stepping off Rodeo Drive onto the Strictly ballroom to partner me for our week three dance. Cue… Pretty Woman!
Once again, Katie did me proud. The long, lean lines and strong shapes she created were, I thought, remarkable. And in that dress… with those heels… tremendous! Hip action, pointed feet, arm styling, hand placement… and a glorious smile throughout… we had a ball.
Pretty woman @thekatiederham and @TheAntonDuBeke were walking the walk with that Cha Cha! 💃💄👠 #Strictly pic.twitter.com/Y73HCLX8Q8
— BBC Strictly (@bbcstrictly) October 10, 2015
The judges, however, weren’t so enthusiastic. Craig said our dance was “like a bad internet connection – kept stopping and starting;” Darcey said there were “glimmers of great leg action,” and that Katie really looked the part; Len said “everyone has a bad dance, let’s hope this was your only one,” and Bruno said that Katie has “got the looks, the equipment, and the packaging,” but warned against squandering her potential.
There was more. All four judges were unanimous in their comments that they didn’t think there was sufficient dance content to our routine – they said they’d expected more from the dance (which is in a way, we thought, a positive). Nevertheless, I stepped forth and took full responsibility, asking the judges to mark Katie on her performance of the choreographed steps. My aim had been to create a routine that could not only be performed to a high standard, but would at the same time showcase Katie’s best qualities, too.
According to the scores, my aim was off: 4 from Craig, 6 from Darcey, and 5 each from Len and Bruno – a total of 20: a big dip from the upward climb of our first two weeks. I can’t deny it felt somewhat disappointing after all our hard work, and I certainly didn’t want Katie to feel deflated.
Those points placed us 11th out of 14 on the leaderboard; suddenly the prospect of being in the dance-off became all too real. But thanks to the wonderful voting public, we were saved from the danger zone and granted safe passage through to week 4. ‘Telephone’ last week… close call this week!
The dreaded dance-off this time saw boxer Anthony Ogogo and our lovely new girl, Oti Mabuse, go head to head against Ainsley and Natalie. Both gave even better performances with this increased pressure, but the judges were unanimous that Anthony’s time had come. Such a great chap, he’ll be much missed from all of us here.
And so, first thing Monday morning we were back in training, dusting ourselves off, ready and raring! This coming weekend we’ll be dancing a Viennese Waltz – pure ballroom at its best. We’ll be on top form, and I can’t hardly wait!
See you Saturday night!
Much love,
