Strictly Come Dancing's Jamie Borthwick gets near-perfect score as EastEnders co-star cheers on
The duo earned 39 points for a mesmerising performance.
Strictly Come Dancing's Jamie Borthwick has soared to the top of this week's leaderboard after wowing the judges with a near-perfect Paso Doble.
The EastEnders star and his professional partner Michelle Tsiakkas donned striking black-and-white outfits for the impeccable routine set to Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona.
Craig Revel Horwood kicked off the judges' comments with his "best East End" accent, declaring the performance to be "paso-bleeding-tastic".
Motsi Mabuse followed by saying that she actually stopped taking notes shortly after the dance began as she was so impressed by what she was seeing.
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"This is how a Paso Doble works," she said. "All that intention, all that intensity, leading, shaping, being alive with your dance partner – brilliant!"
Shirley Ballas initially turned her praise to Tsiakkas, telling her that the choreography that she crafted was "outstanding" and that their outfits were "beautiful".
Anton Du Beke was sent into a frenzy by Shirley's mention of "fregolina", a figure utilised in the Paso Doble, gleefully yelling over the head judge's feedback.
He continued: "I love a fregolina. I don't love 28 steps of a fregolina. We had 28 steps last year – I got bored after about 12. You gave me eight, my favourite number of fregolina steps in the whole world is eight.
"I'm happy with eight, any more is showing off... You will never dance a better dance than that."
Following such glowing feedback, the couple were braced for a big score – and the Strictly Come Dancing judges did not disappoint, giving three 10s and a 9 (with Craig being the holdout, naturally).
Claudia Winkleman turned people's attention to Borthwick's co-star on EastEnders, Adam Woodyatt, who was in the studio and cheered enthusiastically at the end of the dance.
Winkleman encouraged Borthwick to watch back the recording and notice "the pride" in Woodyatt's eyes as he excelled with the routine.
"This show is about your partner and she [Tsiakkas] is fantastic," concluded Borthwick.
At the time of writing, Jamie is at the top of the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard this week, with a stellar 39 points, holding his position as one of this year's top contenders.
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