Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday 6.50pm, BBC One

Posted by Liberty Jones

        

Strictly joker Ricky Groves was voted off last night's show after a performance riddled with mistakes. The former EastEnder scored a miserable 22 points for his tango and even told the audience it was time to vote him off. "It's a dance competition, so maybe it's my turn to go out," he admitted. Unfortunately, we found ourselves agreeing.

Ricky and his partner Erin Boag – who looked like a cross between Chewbacca and a lampshade in a truly hideous fringed frock – faced Laila Rouass and Anton du Beke in the dance-off. Just for once, there was no agonising from the judges, who all agreed that Laila should live to dance another day.

One person who won't be dancing again is injured Jade Johnson. The long-jumper was close to tears as she told Tess she'd sustained a serious tear in one of her knee ligaments and was bowing out of the competition. Poor Jade… we wish her a speedy recovery.

The best performance of the night came from Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe. The pair's American Smooth was simply spectacular, although Len wasn't too impressed with Ricky's overhead lift, which he described as "incongruous". Alesha disagreed, saying: "I think every woman would like the opportunity to be lifted like that." Erm, not us, love.

Also faring well were Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna, who notched up 35 points for their foxtrot. "If that was a pudding it would be an Angel Delight," cooed Len. Just below Ali on the leaderboard was Chris Hollins, who'd thankfully toned down the scary facial expressions for his Viennese waltz.

Less impressive was Natalie Cassidy's samba. Craig said her open mouth looked like "a big old Venus fly-trap" (charming!), while Bruno described the routine as "more Bournemouth than Brazil". Double ouch.

Next week, the dancers must perform either a rock 'n' roll or a Charleston. Until then, folks, keeeep dancing!

Picture BBC

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Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday, BBC1

Posted by Liberty Jones

          

It was one of the most dramatic nights we've ever witnessed on Strictly. For starters, Brucie was absent for the first time in the show's five-year history, thanks to a bad case of flu. Instead, Tess was brought out from her usual backstage spot to front the show, and was joined by surprise guest, comedian Ronnie Corbett. Meanwhile, It Takes Two presenter Claudia Winkleman did the honours backstage – and a very good job she did too.

As well as illness, the show was blighted by injury. Jade Johnson was forced to pull out after sustaining a serious knee injury during dress rehearsals.

The long jumper was in tears as she revealed the accident could jeopardise her athletic commitments at the start of the New Year. We sympathise with Jade, but it does seem a tad unfair that she's now automatically through to the next round.

Meanwhile, Footballers' Wives star Laila Rouass had to be carried off stage by partner Anton du Beke midway through their rumba because of a sprained ankle she'd sustained after tripping on the way to her dressing room.

The actress had bravely decided to go ahead with her performance, despite sporting a bandaged lower leg, but the demanding routine proved too much for her.

"What you lacked in technique, you made up for with heart and passion," Alesha told the weepy star. Fellow judge Bruno added: "I know it could have been something really beautiful."

Much to her (and the judges') surprise, Laila was saved by the public vote – despite earning a meagre 22 points for her half-finished routine and ending up bottom of the leader board.

This left EastEnder Ricky Groves and cricketer Phil Tufnell to battle it out in the dance-off. There was one final shock as Phil – who's been by far the better performer throughout the series – stumbled during his routine and was axed by the judges after Len used his deciding vote. What a night, eh?

Picture: BBC

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John Sergeant on the Tourist Trail, Tuesday 8pm, ITV1

Posted by Stewart Turner

A stern rap over the knuckles for whoever at ITV failed to notice John Sergeant’s new show was a shoe-in for a Sunday tea-time slot. Aimed squarely at the kind of people who find the Antiques Roadshow a little too racy and Last of the Summer Wine a little too blue, it was the perfect show in front of which to crack open a packet of biscuits and sip a cup of tea.

Affable John, these days known primarily as “a dancing pig in Cuban heels” rather than a respected BBC political journalist, is on a mission to see the country through a fresh pair of eyes. Instead of the usual celebrity jaunt through the rolling countryside, he assured us he’d be setting out to show us Britain as the millions of foreign tourists who visit our fair isle each year see it.

The X Factor, Sunday 8pm, ITV1

Posted by Rex Miles

Lucie Jones has been eliminated from The X Factor after competing in the bottom two against the controversial John & Edward.

Black Eyed Peas made a guest appearance with an acrobatic performance of ‘Meet Me Halfway’ as Fergie descended from the sky on a moon crescent and Will.i.am flew across the audience.

2006’s X Factor winner Leona Lewis turned multi-platinum also appeared with a beautiful rendition of new single ‘Happy’.

Appealing to the judges, Lucie performed ‘One Moment In Time’ while the twins sang ‘Rock DJ’.

The judges' vote was split, with Louis and Simon voting to save John & Edward, while Dannii and Cheryl voted to save Lucie.

In deadlock for the fourth time this series the final choice was made by the public’s original vote, giving Lucie the boot.

Let us know your thoughts on all the acts by posting a comment below.

To hear the tracks as they should have been sung, head to the Music Store now to browse our huge catalogue of songs.

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The X Factor, Saturday 8pm, ITV1

Posted by Michael Baggs

As themes for X Factor weeks go, ‘movie week’ was as flimsy as one of Dannii Minogue’s gowns, with judges bickering over what counted as a song from a movie and what didn’t. "I don’t know the movie it’s from and you’re cheating again Simon" trilled Louis Walsh after Jamie Archer sang ‘Crying’ from indie-flick Gummo. Not that it mattered, as Jamie was hardly the week’s talking point - other than for people to say it’s probably about time he packed up his gigantic afro and toddled off home.

But if picking a song from a movie about glue sniffing and teenage transvestites wasn’t random enough, Welsh beauty Lucie Jones plucked a track from Disney’s relatively unknown High School Musical knock-off, Camp Rock. Joe McElderry also sang ‘Circle of Life’ from The Lion King and the entire show was dominated by continual references to the contestants' outing to the movie premiere for Disney’s A Christmas Carol. It’s advertising that money just can’t buy - or rather, it’s advertising that only an international behemoth like Disney can buy. All in all, it was less subtle than being repeatedly punched in the face by a man in a 6-foot Mickey Mouse costume screaming: "GO AND SEE THE RUDDY MOVIE."

Now back to the singing. Stacey Solomon’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ was as boring as a morning in church and Olly Murs appeared to be morphing into papier-mâché comedian Frank Sidebottom in his ‘Twist And Shout’ routine. Danyl Johnson tried to win over the public with his newly cropped hair in a typically irritating ‘Purple Rain’ performance and poor little Lloyd Daniels continued to flounder with ‘Stand By Me’. Simon and Louis commented that Lloyd was out of his depth - making the music mogul duo the pair of hungry sharks circling the struggling Welsh teenager.

And what of the twins? Having turned being unpopular and rubbish into an art form, John and Edward’s terrible performance of the Ghostbusters theme tune was, as always, the evening’s most entertaining moment. Costumes, ghosts and a giant cardboard car - the only trick they missed was not changing the lyrics to "Who you gonna call? John and Edward!"

This year’s voting trends have been wildly unpredictable, (boo hoo hoo Rachel Adedeji) so anyone could end up in this week’s sing-off, but we’d recommend Jamie, Stacey and Lloyd leave an open suitcase on the bed before Sunday night’s results show.

Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday, BBC1

This weekend’s Strictly Come Dancing came from the home of ballroom dancing, the Blackpool Tower Ballroom – complete with Brucie’s predictably cringe worthy fish’n’chips jokes. But apart from the tiresome one-liners, there were some real highlights, including a Strictly first. More on that in a moment.

Ricky Whittle’s tango kicked the evening off, and the judges got very exited about his performance. Apart from Craig, who, like me thought he was a bit wooden. But each to their own.

Natalie Cassidy’s quickstep displayed a bit more passion that Ricky’s tango and, as she said herself, with Zoe, her close friend gone, she can now start competing. And it would seem she’s improving her score one point at a time.

Jade was described by Alesha as “the dark horse of the competition”, but what everyone really wanted to know was whether Ali had managed to recover from her foot injury. The answer is: yes. Ali and Brian’s performance was described as the dance of the series. The judges were unanimous – it was a success as reflected in the highest score ever on Strictly: four tens! Well done, Ali!

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long. Ricky got some harsh comments from the judges for his “entertaining, but disappointing” performance. Leila and Anton divided the judges, and Phil had problems being romantic during his dance (“it’s difficult when everyone is watching”).

Chris and Ola’s foxtrot captured the audience’s imagination, the judges were equally impressed and all that resulted in the third highest score of the evening. But then came another low point - actually it was the lowest point of the evening: Craig, “the local boy” and his flat-footed performance, which only earned him an embarrassing 17 points.

Not surprisingly then, his place in the dance-off was practically guaranteed alongside Ricky and his partner Erin. The judges’ decision was a no-brainer really.

Ricky and Erin are through.

Picture: BBC

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Matthew Wright sees off a streaker

Posted by Stewart Turner

Have you ever accidentally tuned into The Wright Stuff and felt the need to roar: “Get this p**** off my telly!”? Well, you’re not alone.

Five’s daytime whinge-fest was rocked yesterday when a streaker attempted to disrupt filming of the show by scuttling around the studio wearing only a posing pouch. Serial stripper Mark Roberts was eventually removed by security, having failed in his lofty aim to get his todger on daytime telly.

Liverpudlian Mark has previously streaked at all manner of high-profile events, including the Grand National, the FA Cup Final and Royal Ascot. He’s also got himself banned from every football ground in the country, and is barred from entering the US after flashing at the Superbowl final.

In case you missed the show yesterday, take a look at the way Matthew deftly dealt with the unwanted visitor below.

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Restaurant In Your Home, Monday 8.30pm, BBC One

Posted by Stewart Turner

If you don’t live within a three-mile radius of the more fashionable parts of London, the chances are you’re entirely oblivious to the phenomena of the "home restaurant". In a bid to cash-in on their culinary skills, enthusiastic foodies have been opening up their homes to legions of hungry hipsters looking for a cutting-edge dining experience. In short, restaurants are so last week.

Of course, the people who plan our telly have got their sizeable lugs well and truly glued to the pavement, and they’ve been tripping over themselves in a bid to capitalise on the post-Come Dine With Me comedy dining show boom. Hot on the heels of Virgin 1’s woeful Restaurant in our Living Room comes the Beeb’s almost identically-titled Restaurant In Your Home.

Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday 7pm, BBC One

Posted by Jane Murphy

Last week they flounced off in disgust halfway through the judges’ less-than-flattering comments. But this week, rock chick Jo Wood and her partner Brendan Cole were voted off Strictly Come Dancing for good - having received just 14 points for their “futile and ineffectual” (Craig Revel Horwood’s words, not mine) samba.

Truth be told, the pair knew their time was up the second they found out they were in the dance-off. Their opponents? Olympic athlete Jade Johnson and Ian Waite, who’d received an impressive 32 points for their show-opening samba. How they ended up in the bottom two is anyone’s guess, but being first to perform can’t have helped. After all, Strictly is on for so long at the moment, it’s easy to forget what happened back in the mists of time when you first switched on the TV.

Strictly speaking (no pun intended - honest!), Coronation Street star Craig Kelly and his sidekick Flavia Cacace should have been in the dance-off: the couple’s samba only managed to secure them 18 points, their lowest score to date. Still, Craig looked completely crestfallen by the judges’ harsh comments - so he could well have won himself a flurry of sympathy votes.

At the other end of the scale, The Bill’s Ali Bastian and her partner/”special friend” Brian Fortuna pulled out all the stops to come top of the leader board with a super-stylish American Smooth - earning themselves 37 points from the judges, including a very enthusiastic 10 from Bruno Tonioli.

Meanwhile, former Footballers’ Wives star Zoe Lucker fought back from the confidence-crushing experience of being in last week’s dance-off - and turned in an accomplished American Smooth with partner James Jordan. A clearly impressed Len Goodman told her: “If you’re in the bottom two after that, I’ll dance the Lambada with Craig next week.” Ah, what a lovely image that makes!

So did Jo and Brendan deserve to go? And how the hell did Jade find herself in the dance-off? Have your say here.

Picture: BBC

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MasterChef: The Professionals, Thursday 8pm, BBC One

Posted by Liberty Jones

           

After five weeks of sizzling competition, three chefs – Daniel, Steve and Marianne – lined up to do battle in last night's long-awaited final. Their first challenge saw them running round the kitchens of a Mayfair hotel, where they were cooking for 30 of the best chefs in Europe. 

It wasn't long before Daniel was in deep doo-doo with his starter. Michel Roux Jr produced one of his trademark wide-eyed stares of despair as he eyed his protégé's flabby brioche dough. "That looks like a gloopy mess!" he cried. Worse was to come when Daniel burnt not one – but two lots of posh potato crisps. "You're going down like a ton of bricks," Michel remarked unhelpfully. 

Marianne, meanwhile, was determined to turn out a faultless dessert. "I'm not letting anything come between me and the tiara," she declared gamely as she started cooking. An hour and a half later she was close to tears as her rum jelly failed to set, meaning it had to be presented on the plate in messy dollops, instead of perfectly cut lozenges. 

Steve, who's created some of the most imaginative and technically perfect dishes of the series, fared much better. His roasted duck and macaroni towers received unstinting praise from the assembled chefs, leaving the young chef visibly moved. 

Exhausted and emotional, the trio returned to the MasterChef kitchen for the final cook-off. "You've got two hours to cook the best three courses of your lives," Michel told them. Hmmm… not much pressure then. Marianne's skate tartlet starter was spoiled by burnt butter, but her guinea fowl main was described as "an absolute dream" by Michel's largely pointless sidekick Gregg Wallace.

Next up was Steve, who produced a sublime roasted venison and potato rosti for his main course. "I am looking for fault here, but this plate is as near perfection as you can get," Michel told him. His raspberry and chocolate mille-feuille, meanwhile, was described as "outstanding".

Dan, who was already trailing behind the other two chefs after the first challenge, pulled all the stops out with his starter of asparagus, Iberico ham and parmesan foam. "I love it," Michel said. "But I'm not bowled over." There was more disappointment to come when Daniel realised he'd neglected to remove the not-very-palatable skin from his turbot. 

It came as no surprise when Steve was named the winner. "My whole body's trembling," said the 28-year-old, who almost gave up being a chef when his dad died of cancer. "This is massive, it's unbelievable, it really is." Well done, Steve - your dad would be very proud.

Picture: BBC

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