Strictly spoilers and results 2024: Who is leaving on Strictly Come Dancing Week 8?

This year's iteration of Strictly Come Dancing has reached its halfway point. It did that last week, and now we're on the road to Blackpool. That's right; it's the week before the annual extravaganza and you can bet that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman had fun with their favorite game of the series: How many times can they say Blackpool in one episode? The answer was, as always, a lot.

After last week's controversial Icons Week (which saw Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin eliminated after a Dance-Off appearance with Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe), we were back to typical performances this week - much to the delight of the audience, many of whom were thankful after two consecutive weeks of theme weeks.

But with Blackpool on the horizon, which of our remaining nine couples shone the brightest and which ones have found themselves in danger of the dreaded Dance-Off?

Strictly spoilers and results: Week 8 Leaderboard

What a night of dancing we have just had! There are just seven points between the couples at the top of the Leaderboard and those at the bottom; if that doesn't tell you just how high quality the performances are, then I don't know what does! But it's true, because with no themes this week, we got back to some good old-fashioned dancing, and it was a delight to see.

Both Pete and Jowita, and Chris and Dianne had audiences in tears with their beautiful Couple's Choice routines, while Montell and Johannes bounced back from their Dance-Off appearance with a powerful Paso Doble. Meanwhile, JB and Lauren delivered an exceptional Samba and Tasha and Aljaž also topped the Leaderboard with a bright and light Quickstep.

Here are all of the results from the Strictly Week 8 Saturday night pre-Blackpool show, the scores that each of the performances were given, and the Leaderboard we were left with:

• Tasha and Aljaž danced the Quickstep - 37
• JB and Lauren danced the Samba - 37
• Pete and Jowita danced their Couple's Choice - 36
• Montell and Johannes danced the Paso Doble - 36
• Chris and Dianne danced their Couple's Choice - 33
• Sarah and Vito danced the American Smooth - 33
• Wynne and Katya danced the American Smooth - 32
• Shayne and Nancy danced the Rumba - 30
• Jamie and Michelle danced the Argentine Tango - 30

Who is in danger on Strictly Come Dancing Week 8?

Well, the Blackpool Tower Ballroom is in sight and the Leaderboard is tighter than ever. That's largely because there are so many ties. Like, so many ties! As we mentioned earlier, there are just seven points between the couples at the top and bottom of the Leaderboard, and there are multiple ties throughout.

As we've said before, that means there are five more points between Tasha and JB at the top and Shayne and Jamie at the bottom than there normally would be. What this does is give the couples near the bottom a better chance of escaping and leave the couples near the top a lot more vulnerable.

That being said, it is unlikely that Tasha and JB would find themselves in the Dance-Off when at the top (it's too early for that to happen), but there is a much bigger chance of it happening than there normally would be at this early stage (especially if they don't have as strong a public following as the others). But the ties can work against the couples at the bottom too, as Shayne and Jamie are both tied on 30. Now, Jamie had a "worse" night as the judges were much harsher to him and he has proven popular with the public, so he will likely avoid the Dance-Off when the public vote. That would leave Shayne in danger.

We're predicting that Shayne and Nancy and Wynne and Katya will find themselves in the Dance-Off, (with an extremely outside chance that Tasha and Aljaž could find themselves there due to the ties on the Leaderboard).

Updated, Sunday November 11: Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu were in the Dance-Off against Wynne Evans and Katya Jones. The judges had a split decision for the first time this series, with Craig and Motsi saving Shayne and Anton saving Wynne. Head Judge Shirley Ballas had the casting vote and opted to save Wynne and Katya, eliminating Shayne and Nancy from the competition.

Shayne and Nancy have been a memorable part of the series, delivering some great routines. Relive their lovely Rumba here: