Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood stuns fans by outscoring other judges

Craig delivered a 9 for Angela Rippon's tribute to Murder, She Wrote, dancing the Charleston with professional dance partner Kai Widdrington, while his fellow judges all scored 8.

Host Claudia Winkleman said: "Craig scored higher than the other judges. I don't think he's ever done that or he's done it once eight years ago. It's certainly Halloween."

Craig said in his comments that Rippon gave us a "swivel masterclass" in the routine, even surprising fellow judge Motsi Mabuse who followed on from him and admitted that she thought he was "going to say more".

While the other judges were quick to point out some of Angela's mistakes and downfalls this week, Craig wasted no time in delivering the score which stunned Angela, the audience and viewers at home.

Angela was visibly surprised by the score, with Winkleman saying: "I can feel your shock and I'm loving it!"

One fan wrote on X (which has rebranded from Twitter): "Can someone check on Craig Revel-Horwood. He gave Angela the highest score out of all the judges. My jaw dropped. My Flabber has never been more ghast."

Another fan posted a meme reaction of Big Brother's Yinrun's surprised face and wrote: "Craig scoring higher than Motsi and Shirley for TWO dances in a row - shooketh x."

Similarly, another fan said he couldn't "get my head around" the fact that Horwood had awarded Rippon a 9.

Read more:

• Strictly opens Halloween Week with message to Amanda Abbington
• Strictly's Anton Du Beke remembers Len Goodman: 'He would've loved that'

The special Halloween episode saw Rippon pay tribute to Murder She Wrote's Angela Lansbury while other dances on the night included an American Smooth by Adam Thomas, a Jeepers Creepers-inspired Charleston from Zara McDermott and a vampire-themed Tango by Layton Williams.

The episode was also the first since the early exit from the show by actress Amanda Abbington. Addressing her absence in the show's first moments, Winkleman delivered a message to the camera, saying: "Now earlier this week, Amanda Abbington withdrew from the competition. Amanda, we are sending you all our love."

Although a frontrunner for the Glitterball trophy, the Sherlock actress exited the show, citing "personal reasons" for doing so, bringing an end to her appearance on the show with professional partner Giovanni Pernice.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Sunday 29th October at 7:20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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