Strictly’s Lewis Cope earns the highest score of the series for his power paso doble as Wicked icon Cynthia Erivo guest mentors for movie week – but fans fume ‘why didn’t she sing!’

Lewis Cope kicked off Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing with a power paso doble and received his first 10 from judge Motsi Mabuse.

The actor and his pro partner Katya Jones earned the highest score of the series, an incredible 37 points, for their spicy performance to The Plaza of Execution from The Mask of Zorro. 

Amber Davies and her partner Nikita Kuzmin placed second on the leaderboard, 35 points, with head judge Shirley Ballas applauding the pair’s ‘exquisite’ performance.

The West End star admitted her ‘dreams came true’ tonight as her icon Cynthia Erivo guest mentored for movie week.

Fans fumed after the show finished as they expected the singer to perform a hit from the Wicked soundtrack ahead of the second movie release.

Wicked actress Cynthia has previously appeared on the series as a guest judge back in 2021, covering for Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse. 

Former Love Island star Amber – who has faced backlash for her dancing background – was delighted by her score as she jumped for joy with Nikita.

For this year’s fan-favourite Movie Week, stars dressed up as the likes of Thunderbolts, Barbie, The Bird Woman and The Sound Of Music. 

Strictly professionals took to the floor with a dance dedicated to the story of long-running stage show and Hollywood blockbuster film Wicked.

The professional dancers dressed up in fantastical costumes as part of the story-telling dance number.

The female stars dressed up in all-black like the film’s Wicked Witch of the West, as Elphaba Thropp, and the men portrayed Prince Fiyero.

The routine, choreographed by Jason Gilkinson, celebrated the franchise’s second film, Wicked: For Good.

Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Bychkova came back fighting this week after facing the dance off last weekend.

His Paso Doble to Sweet Child O’Mine from Thor: Love and Thunder saw him score his best yet, 22 points.

George Clarke and his American pro Alexis Warr’s couple choice bagged them an amazing 31 points for their K-pop hip hop dance.

La Voix and Aljaž Škorjanec slowed things down this week with a Waltz to Feed the Birds (Tuppence A Bag) from Mary Poppins. 

Ross King was praised for his improved moves and confidence for his paso doble. He and Jowita Przystał earned 19 points.

EastEnders actor Balvinder Sopal and Australian pro Julian Caillon performed a Foxtrot to The Way You Look Tonight from Swing Time. 

After their show-stopping dance last week, the couple earned a deserving 26 points this week. 

Karen Carney’s delivered a dazzling Cha Cha Cha to She’s a Lady from Miss Congeniality. They scored 25 points.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his partner Lauren Oakley channelled 007 for the first rumba of the series.

They wowed the judges with the incredible performance to No Time to Die from James Bond, scoring 28.

Vicky Pattison and Kai Widdrington was given her best score yet, 25 points, for her Charleston.

Meanwhile, Ellie Goldstein and her pro partner Vito Coppola stunned the judges with their samba in their Barbie outfits, scoring them an incredible 27 points.

Alex Kingston channelled Meryl Streep’s iconic Miranda Priestley, in a nod to Devil Wears Prada 2, for a spicy quickstep to Suddenly I See, scoring an incredible 30 points.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, aka Nitro from Gladiators, and partner Karen Hauer scored 32 points, their best yet.

Shirley Ballas was left blushing on Saturday night after Harry turned up the heat with a sizzling shirtless salsa. 

Shirley, 65, couldn’t help but swoon over Harry’s muscular physique, calling him ‘extraordinary in every department’.

She gushed: ‘You are the man with the million-dollar smile, for sure. You got hold of Karen and you chucked her so fast over, it’s a good job she can control it. 

‘I mean, you just picked her up like it was just you know, a piece of ribbon or something. 

‘It was extraordinary, it was fantastic. Your leading skills, now you’re starting to learn how to lead Karen, that was great. 

Shirley then shimmied her shoulders as she added: ‘Your solo parts are down and groovy, and rock and roll and that little shake on the pecs when it went forward like that. 

Emphasising her eyes, she went on: ‘Well, he decided not to wear the shirt, and I mean the pecks were going.

‘I mean to say you’re just going from strength to strength, but you are quite extraordinary in every department. 

As the audience and fellow judges hollered with laughter and cheers, she exclaimed: ‘Oh, I’m blushing.’ 

Amber broke her silence on the backlash from Strictly Come Dancing fans about her previous dance experience before joining the BBC show. 

The former Love Island star, who has also taken part in a number of on-stage musicals including Pretty Woman and Back To The Future, was quizzed over whether she thought it was ‘fair’ celebrities with training are allowed on the show alongside novice celebrity dancers. 

Despite arguing her case, it backfired for Amber, 29, online as furious fans of the dancing competition hit out that they weren’t buying it. 

Speaking on This Morning on Wednesday, the TV star, who also took part in ITV‘s Dancing On Ice in 2024, tried to set the record straight. 

Quizzed by hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley, who described her as a ‘professional performer with dance experience’, Amber affirmed she’d never taken to the ballroom floor before. 

‘The ballroom and Latin community know that musical theatre is worlds apart [from ballroom dancing],’ she hit back against the criticism. 

Asked by Ben, 50, whether she felt it was fair fans had been complaining about her past experience, she continued: ‘I do understand where they come from, because I can perform.

‘But, there’s a great example. Yesterday we were doing our American Smooth, and even just walking left right, left right, brought me to tears.

‘It’s so much more complicated than you can imagine.’

Her professional dance partner, Nikita Kuzmin, chimed in to explain how even though it’s ‘three steps’ it can be ‘really difficult’ to pick up. 

But fans on social media weren’t won over by the excuses, taking to X to complain that despite her defence, she still had undeniable previous training. 

‘She’s trained in musical theatre. She’s as close to a professional as you can get. The show has lost its way,’ one penned after tuning in to This Morning. 

Another agreed: ‘She’s desperate to win, just like she was on Dancing on Ice,’ as a third added: ‘She’s a professional dancer.

‘She was on Dancing On Ice and now she’s on Strictly. She probably knew she was gonna replace Dani as soon as she got injured – and is on the West End.’ 

Amber replaced injured Dani Dyer just days ahead of Strictly’s first live show.

While she may not have long to prepare, Amber has plenty of dance experience behind her. 

The star has a Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre and Dance, took dance as a GCSE subject at school, and trained at Danceworld Stage School.

She attended Urdang Academy for the performing arts as a teenager where she trained in musical theatre.

Just last year, Amber was a contestant on ITV’s Dancing On Ice where she finished in an impressive fifth place with pro skating partner Simon Proulx-Senecal. 

Many Strictly fans were unimpressed with the signing due to Amber’s past dance experience. 

Taking to social media, they wrote: ‘A trained dancer! This show has lost the plot in every area Needs a total reset.’

‘Wasn’t she on Dancing On Ice?’… ‘Strictly is about journeys on learning how to dance, this is skipping all that.’

‘Another dancer? She may play it down but this is her career. I don’t think that’s fair really.’ 

‘She is a trained dancer and was on Dancing On Ice a few years ago. She is too trained for this show.’ 

Strictly Come Dancing continues this weekend on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.