Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Odudu praised her "special" professional dance partner Kai Widdrington, after their comeback performance on Saturday.
The pair were forced to hit back at "cheating" claims this week, after some viewers suggested they had changed their routine for the dreaded dance off last Sunday.
Viewers commented on Dan Walker being eliminated and suggested it was "unfair" despite AJ and Kai being favourites from the start of the BBC series.
On Saturday night, the pair were confirmed to be dancing a Rumba to Show Me Heaven by Maria McKee, and a Quickstep to Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman.
All the final couples, including Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice, John Whaite and Johannes Radebe and Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu, have had to practice two routines this week, with it being the semi-finals
After AJ and Kai's first routine, AJ was in tears as she was complimented by the judges who all agreed she was back on form.
Anton Du Beke called the performance "spectacular", as Craig Revel Horwood said: "I loved it! It was classic, old fashioned... you ripped that floor up. Incredible."
Shirley Ballas was left emotional and "wanting to cry", as Motsi Mabuse shared how proud she was of the contestant.
AJ then fought back tears as she praised Kai, and talked of making it to the semi-final.
She told host Claudia Winkleman: "Being in the dance off last week did not feel nice, and it did knock my confidence a bit but I just wanted to have a blast this week.
"I'm so grateful to be here in the semi-final, in this dress, with Kai who is so special, so devoted, so patient with me and honestly I had the best time on that dancefloor."
It follows AJ and Kai addressing the cheating claims on It Takes Two this week, ahead of their semi-final performances.
On Saturday night last weekend, AJ was intending to perform an exciting cartwheel, when disaster struck and the TV host effectively ended up slapping Kai around his face with her thighs.
On Sunday's episode, fans believed the dance during the dance off was different to the one shown the night before.
But AJ and Kai hit back, revealing they simply got the routine right this time around.
AJ said: "I felt like a star, but then it all went downhill. I got tangled up, just a cheeky little tangle."
Kai said: "We had incredible choreography last week but I said to them, we don't want to leave it to chance and we would be doing an injustice to AJ if we didn't push the boundaries.
"You would feel the same way because you want to push the boundaries, you want it to be memorable, you don't want it to be just 'okay'.
"I just didn't do my best. I'd rather do that and go wrong than just play it safe. I think it's good that we pushed the boundaries."
AJ said: "We've never once played it safe. Every single dance has been outside of my comfort zones for sure and I know that it's a tough routine because it was challenging for Kai as well. That's when you know, when the pro finds it hard.
"But genuinely I would much rather stumble going for it than just having the ride."
AJ added: "It was stressful, I was nervous going into that final lift, so to be able to execute it and show everyone 'this is what it was meant to look like', I was really pleased, I was."
Strictly Come Dancing continues Sunday at 7:20pm on BBC One.
