After weeks of build-up, Strictly Come Dancing headed to the legendary Tower Ballroom in Blackpool for this week's show.
The occasion is one of the main highlights in the Strictly calendar and past contestants have soared to dizzying heights, including the like of series 2 champion, Jill Halfpenny, who scored the competition's first-ever perfect score at the venue.
Last week saw an emotional performance from Pete Wicks, who scored his highest marks in the competition, while fan favourite Chris McCausland delivered a poignant Couple's Choice performance, which offered a nod to his blindness in a blackout moment.
Here's what happened in week nine...
What are the couples dancing?
For the first time this series, each couple has a different dance style, which will make it all the harder to compare anyone. Chris hoped to continue his strong showing with an American Smooth to Paul Anka's Jump, while Jamie Borthwick delivered a comedic jive to The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) by Las Ketchup.
Also dancing quick routines were JB Gill, who quickstepped to Rick Astley's iconic song Never Gonna Give You Up, and Montell Douglas who tackled a steamy salsa to Thelma Houston's Don't Leave Me This Way.
Pete Wicks, meanwhile, turned the temperature up with his cha-cha-cha to Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy and Sarah Hadland performed her Couple's Choice to the song of 2023: Padam Padam by Kylie Minogue.
Rounding out the performances were Tasha Ghouri's paso doble to Torn by Nathan Lanier and Wynne Evans's Charleston to Carmen Suite No.1: 5.Les toreadors, which was performed by Georges Bizet.
Leaderboard
The leaderboard for Week 9 is as follows…
- Sarah Hadland & Vito Coppola – Couple's Choice – 39 (9, 10, 10, 10)
- Tasha Ghouri & Aljaz Skorjanec – Paso Doble – 39 (9, 10, 10, 10)
- Chris McCausland & Dianne Buswell – American Smooth – 37 (8, 9, 10, 10)
- JB Gill & Lauren Oakley – Quickstep – 35 (8, 9, 9, 9)
- Montell Douglas & Johannes Radebe – Salsa – 35 (8, 9, 9, 9)
- Jamie Borthwick & Michelle Tsiakkas – Jive – 33 (8, 8, 8, 9)
- Wynne Evans & Katya Jones – Charleston – 31 (7, 8, 8, 8)
- Pete Wicks & Jowita Przystal – Cha-Cha-Cha – 27 (4, 7, 8, 8)
Who left the competition?
After landing in the bottom two, Wynne Evans became the eighth celebrity to leave the competition. After he and Katya Jones took on Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe in the dance-off, it was announced that the opera singer would be departing on Sunday night.
In an emotional moment, Wynne said that he'd had a "wonderful" time in the ballroom. "If I can come and do Strictly and last until week nine, then anybody can get out there and dance and have a brilliant time," he continued.
"Strictly is such a brilliant family, such a precious family, that I want everybody here in this room and at home to look after it for the generations to come because it is a wonderful, wonderful thing."
Who left last week?
Last week, it proved to be third time unlucky for Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu as they failed to survive their third dance-off. After previously eliminating Nick Knowles and Dr Punam Krishan, this time the pair lost against Wynne Evans.
"I just want to say, you guys up there are a dream. Every single day, coming in here and seeing you guys, you helped me so much," Shayne told his fellow contestants following his elimination."I want to say thank-you to the audience as well, for always being amazing for us all. This has been, honestly, one of the best things I've ever done."