💖”It was absolutely breathtaking, miles beyond anything we’ve seen so far” — Lewis Cope hits the first 40 of the series as he wows the judges with his sensational couple’s choice dance for Halloween week 🥰

Strictly Halloween week is back once again as this year’s couples and judges donned their scariest attire for the spooky celebrations.

And Lewis Cope blew the judges away as he received the first 40 of the series for his couple’s choice dance to a quick version of Radiohead’s Creep.

Reflecting on growing up in Hartlepool with his 13 siblings, Lewis left home at just 10 years old to live in London and pursue his career in performing as he admitted he often misses his family, especially his Nanna Dot.

And sure to make his family proud Lewis and his partner Katya Jones brought the house down with the incredible performance full of twists and tricks.

Leaving Motsi Mabuse on her feet, Craig Revel Horwood deemed the performance ‘Spooktacular’ while Motsi added it was ‘out of this world’.

Meanwhile Shirley Ballas was moved to tears as she thanked his family for letting Lewis follow his dreams and share his talent with the nation.

Anton Du Beke added it was the best of the series by a ‘million miles’ and he couldn’t have done anything to make it better.

Spook-tacular Strictly! Lewis Cope achieves the first 40 of the series as he blows the judges away with his sensational couple’s choice dance

Leaving Motsi on her feet, Craig deemed the performance ‘Spooktacular’ while Motsi added it was ‘out of this world’

He doesn’t often get his 10 paddle out, but even Craig gave the pair a 10 as they achieved the first full marks of the series.

Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu were also back with a bang after a rocky few weeks as she returned with a Peaky Blinders themed Argentine Tango.

Proud to represent Birmingham, the former Lioness gushed: ‘Thanks for letting me do it’ as she chatted with Claudia.

Receiving their highest score to date the couple secured two 10s from Motsi and Anton as they received an overall score of 38.

Alex Kingston also blew the judges away with a red hot devil-themed Salsa to Mousse T’s Horny.

While Shirley gushed she wanted to get out on the floor with her, Craig joked it looked like a ‘woman having a mid life crisis’ and that her partner Johannes Radebe stole the show.

Yet stepping out of her comfort zone paid off as they bagged a score of 35.

After a breakthrough week with her couple’s choice dance last week, Vicky Pattison and her partner Kai Widdrington opened the show with a ghoulish American Smooth to Total Eclipse of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler.

Shirley was moved to tears as she thanked his family for letting Lewis follow his dreams and share his talent with the nation

He doesn’t often get his 10 paddle out, but even Craig gave the pair a 10 as they achieved the first full marks of the series

Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu were also back with a bang after a rocky few weeks as she returned with a Peaky Blinders themed Argentine Tango

Alex Kingston also blew the judges away with a red hot devil-themed Salsa to Mousse T’s Horny

Vicky Pattison kicked off Halloween week on Saturday with a ghoulish American Smooth as the judges gushed she could make it to the final

Next was Ellie Goldstein as she performed a terrifying Tango with her partner Vito Coppola to Lady Gaga ‘s Abracadabra

Reflecting on growing up in Hartlepool with his 13 siblings, Lewis left home at just 10 years old to live in London and pursue his career in performing (his family pictured watching)

The couple looked overjoyed after the incredible dance

 Finally conquering her nerves after a shaky few weeks in the competition, Vicky was moved to tears as Motsi said she is firm contender for the final and they kicked off the night with a score of 31.

Next was Ellie Goldstein as she performed a terrifying Tango with her partner Vito Coppola to Lady Gaga‘s Abracadabra.

Receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, the model, 23, impressed the judges with improved technique before receiving 27 points.

After finding himself at the bottom of the leaderboard last week, George Clarke returned wanting to prove himself this week.

With a Cha Cha to Charli XCX’s hit Apple, the TikTok star earned Craig’s seal of approval as he praised his hip movement.

Speaking to host Claudia he admitted: ‘Yes last week was a bit of a set back and I guess I just want to prove that I am not plateauing.’

And it seems the hard work is paying off after he received a score of 29.

After teasing she could be in the running to replace Tess Daly as the show’s presenter last week, La Voix was given her own audition as she introduced her own dance for this weeks show.

Performing the Paso Doble Anton gave a sweet nod to the late Len Goodman as he said the former judge would have loved the star’s dance.

And it certainly reflected in the scores as they achieved an incredible 35 points.

Balvinder Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon were next with a Rumba which scored them 28, before Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Karen Hauer took to the floor with their American Smooth scoring 26.

With a Cha Cha to Charli XCX’s hit Apple, George Clarke earned Craig Revel Horwood’s seal of approval as he praised his hip movement

After teasing she could be in the running to replace Tess Daly as the show’s presenter last week, La Voix was given her own audition as she introduced her own dance

Performing the Paso Doble Anton Du Beke gave a sweet nod to the late Len Goodman as he said the former judge would have loved the star’s dance

Balvinder Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon were next with a Rumba which scored them 28

After surviving the dance off last week, Amber Davies returned with a sensational Red Riding Hood themed Viennese Waltz

Lewis and Katya’s routine was full of twists and tricks

While Shirley gushed she wanted to get out on the floor with her, Craig joked it looked like a ‘woman having a mid life crisis’ and that her partner Johannes Radebe stole the show

As usual the judges went all out with their terrifying costumes as they embraced the Halloween spirit

Vicky was moved to tears as Motsi said she is firm contender for the final and they kicked off the night with a score of 31

After surviving the dance off last week, Amber Davies returned with a sensational Red Riding Hood themed Viennese Waltz.

While Shirley critiqued the lack of Viennese Waltz technique in hold, Craig told the West End star not to listen to the head judge.

Hoping to survive another week in the competition her and Nikita Kuzmin also achieved 35 points.

Last week Vicky fought back tears during an emotional episode of Strictly as she reflected on ‘losing her way in the industry’.

For Icons Week, the TV personality chose to perform to Cheryl‘s hit track Fight For This Love and was left speechless when she was surprised by the singer herself in a sweet video message.

Vicky, who rose to fame on MTV show Geordie Shore, admitted she had made some ‘bad decisions’ in the past and had worked to ‘change the narrative and become a better version of herself,’ which she felt the song embodied.

She explained how the track was about ‘not letting the past define you,’ after previously admitting she hated the fact she became known for sleeping with her exes on TV.

Before taking to the floor, she explained: ‘Cheryl Cole is an icon to me. She’s a working class girl from Newcastle.

‘She has had her ups and downs, her grazed knees. I just feel like I can relate to a lot of that.’

 

Last week Vicky fought back tears during an emotional episode of Strictl y as she reflected on ‘losing her way in the industry’

The TV personality, 37, chose to perform to Cheryl’s Fight For This Love for Icons Week and was surprised by the singer herself in a sweet video message

She continued: ‘I had a lovely childhood I think. It wasn’t until I got a bit older that I sort of lost my way a bit.

‘I first started out in this industry at about 21. I made some bad decisions. I just think at that age I didn’t have the tools to navigate the space I was in.

‘Now, I do my best to be a better version of myself, someone I can look in the mirror and be proud of.

‘I’m doing this incredible show, when I look in the audience and see my mum and dads faces and my sisters face, it’s worth it.

‘What I’ve learnt about myself is that with determination and a little bit of self belief you can achieve stuff.’