Strictly spoilers and results 2023: Who is leaving on Strictly Come Dancing Week 5?

Strictly Come Dancing is fast approaching the halfway point of the competition. Hard to believe, right? But somehow, someway, we’re five weeks into the competition – and just one week away from Halloween, too!

With the departure of Jody and Jowita last week, there are now twelve remaining couples in the competition. However, only eleven took to the Dancefloor on Saturday night, as Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice did not dance this week and have been given a one week bye into next week due to medical reasons. This isn’t the first time a couple has been given a bye through to the following week, with Kym and Graziano getting a one week bye last year after the former tested positive for Covid-19. All being well, Amanda and Giovanni should return next week.

But what did go down on the dancefloor this week? Could Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin follow their extraordinary Cha Cha Cha from last week with another banger? Was Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington’s long-awaited Argentine Tango worth that wait? And could Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola bounce back with the Paso Doble?

*** This article contains spoilers from Strictly Week 25s Saturday Night show. If you haven’t yet seen this week’s episode and don’t want the dances or scores spoiled for you, don’t read on! ***

Strictly spoilers and results: Week 5 Leaderboard

We got a bit of a shorter show on this week’s Strictly Come Dancing as were two couples down, but that didn’t stop the competing couples from delivering some brilliant routines that we’ll be talking about for years to come.

Annabel and Johannes opened the show with a joyously glitzy Charleston (that was a tad undermarked!), while Krishnan and Lauren came through with a splendid Quickstep. Layton and Nikita delivered a Leaderboard-topping Salsa and Angela and Kai delivered a stunning Argentine Tango to close the show. The MVP of the night, however, has got to be Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola who delivered a Paso Doble that brought the house down.

Here are the results from the Strictly Week 5 Saturday night show, the scores, and the Leaderboard we were left with:

• Layton and Nikita danced the Salsa – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39
• Ellie and Vito danced the Paso Doble – 9, 10, 9, 9 = 37
• Angela R and Kai danced the Argentine Tango –  8, 9, 8, 9 = 34
• Bobby and Dianne danced the Viennese Waltz – 7, 8, 8, 9 = 32
• Adam and Luba danced their Couple’s Choice – 7, 8, 8, 9 = 32
• Krishnan and Lauren danced the Quickstep – 6, 8, 8, 8 = 30
• Nigel and Katya danced the Foxtrot – 7, 7, 7, 8 = 29
• Angela S and Carlos danced the American Smooth – 6, 7, 7, 8 = 28
• Zara and Graziano danced the American Smooth – 7, 7, 7, 7 = 28
• Annabel and Johannes danced the Charleston –  5, 7, 7, 8 = 27
• Eddie and Karen danced the Samba – 5, 6, 6, 7 = 24

Who is in danger on Strictly Week 5?

This was a frustrating night for the couples on Strictly as quite a few of them made mistakes that lowered their scores. Annabel Croft is unusually low on the Leaderboard, as her wonderful Charleston (which received praise from the judges) earned her three 7s instead of what we would assume to be three 8s. However, Craig Revel Horwood’s 5 dramatically brought her score down, placing her second-bottom on the Leaderboard when there were much weaker dances on the night above her.

But it’s important to remember that there are two ties on the Leaderboard, which makes it easier for the more popular couples to escape danger thanks to the public vote. Annabel and Johannes have proven to be very popular with the public, so there is a good chance that they will escape the Dance-off this week in spite of their precarious position on the Leaderboard.

Previous Dance-off survivors Eddie and Karen, and Zara and Graziano, are unfortunately looking like the most likely candidates to return to the Dance-Off tonight. Eddie has landed at the bottom of the Leaderboard, while Zara is third-from-bottom – tied with Angela Scanlon and Carlos, who have also proven to be popular with the public.

However, when the public vote is involved, anything could happen and everything could change.

Update, Sunday October 22: As revealed in the Sunday night results show, Eddie and Karen did indeed find themselves in the Dance-Off again with Zara and Graziano. After the Dance-Off, the judges all saved Zara and Graziano, sending Eddie and Karen home.

Eddie and Karen brought so much joy to each routine they tackled. We’ll never forget their super Men In Black-themed Couples Choice from Movies Week. Relive their epic Samba routine here: