Source: Daily Mail
He was criticised last week for “lacking fire” but Gethin Jones astounded the Strictly Come Dancing judges by emerging as the favourite to face Alesha Dixon in the show’s final.
Now that her nearest rival Kelly Brook has pulled out of the show due to her father’s death on Monday, it should have been plain sailing for Dixon who has consistently danced off with the top marks.
However it being week nine, the pressure was turned up a notch for all the competitors with the remaining five couples having to perform two new dances.
Surprisingly, it was the Blue Peter presenter and partner Camilla Dallerup who stole the limelight with their “graceful” waltz which earned them 39 points.
“You (Jones) are a dancer,” head judge Len Goodman said, after telling Jones in past weeks that he needed to “bring personality onto the (dance) floor.”
“Quiet, understated, beautiful,” he added.
“Graceful, fluid, romantic and melted my heart,” Arlene Phillips said, while Craig Revel Horwood found the dance “beautiful.”
And their winning dance steps didn’t desert them there.
By the time Jones and Dallerup returned to the floor for their salsa, Revel Horwood, a man not known to bite his tongue, admitted he was in a “state of shock”.
It seems Jones had taken on board the judges’ criticisms of not fully “letting go” with his previous dances and enlisted the help of an acting coach to unleash his “Welsh dragon”.
Gone was the placid “Geth” and in his place a more forceful “Gethin” emerged.
“You’re turning into the lion king,” judge Bruno Tonioli exclaimed.
“We saw a different side to your nature,” Revel Horwood said, still slightly speechless.
“I think that acting coach was a miracle worker,” Goodman added.
However it wasn’t a good night for all the contestants, with Letitia Dean and Kenny Logan finding themselves in the bottom two.
Dean’s quickstep didn’t have “enough spring” and her cha cha was “stiff”.
While Logan’s foxtrot “lacked flow” and his performance in the ramba was likened to that of a “coat hanger for Ola (Jordan)”.
“Don’t do one and get one for free,” Goodman joked.
However the judge did praise the former rugby player’s tenacity throughout the nine weeks.
“What I like is that you (Logan) come out and try 100 per cent. You’ve given it your all,” Goodman said.
Eastenders actor Matt Di Angelo, who last week scored 38 with his “sexy” salsa, performed a “flat” tango but won praise for his technique in the ramba.
“I’ve never seen such great control of your arms,” Goodman said.
Dixon continued to impress the judges with her “tantalising” tango and “sensational” samba.
“I could watch you all night,” Revel Horwood said.
“If you had learnt Latin American (dancing) as a child, you would be one of the professionals,” Goodman added.
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