With some contestants, though, their prior dance experience is obvious. Tasha Ghouri swooped straight in with a performance so accomplished that it merited an 8 from Craig. Former pop star JB Gill and actress (and trained dancer) Sarah Hadland also scored highly. Hadland may go far because she is partnered with the popular Vito Coppola. Goodness knows, this show needs an unproblematic Italian.
But the performance of the night came from Chris McCausland. Of course, everyone was rooting for him. But to execute a cha cha as well as he did, while being unable to follow partner Dianne Buswell by sight, was astonishing. “It’s like someone took all the fun out of dancing and replaced it with terms and conditions,” he joked of the training process.
For him, maybe. But for the Strictly audience, in danger of falling out of love with this show after months of scandal, McCausland is putting the fun back in.