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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Will Twigger

Strictly's Karim Zeroual just escapes major blunder during ambitious dance move

Strictly Come Dancing's semi-final has come and gone, with tomorrow's results show set to reveal who'll be taking a place in the coveted final.

Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden came into this week on a high, after last week earning the first perfect score of the series.

They were second this week, behind Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse, but Karim very nearly blew his dance all together when an ambitious lift manoeuvre saw him just escape entanglement in Amy's dress.

He very nearly dropped Amy during the routine, but managed to salvage the move and go on to score an impressive 36 points.

"We felt it was perfect!" gushed co-host Claudia Winkleman as Karim and Amy defended the move.

Karim and Amy impressed the judges - but very nearly suffered a major blunder (PA)

"I didn't drop her!" Karim laughed.

Their second dance, an American Smooth to cult classic track Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, earned them a mighty 38 points, bringing their overall total for the week to 74 out of a possible 80.

It was a solid effort, but not enough to not Kelvin and Oti off their topspot - they'll be heading into tomorrow night's results show with a whopping 77.

They came second behind Kelvin and Oti (PA)
They had a laugh about it after (BBC)

This included their first dance winning them a perfect score of 40.

Behind Karim and Amy were Emma Barton and Anton du Beke with 67, their second dance getting some stern-faced and major praise from head honcho Shirley Ballas.

In last place were comedian Chris Ramsey and Karen Hauer with 54.

The feedback Kelvin got from the judges moved him to tears (PA)

This far into the competition, the waterworks come into play as Kelvin's 40 saw him shed a few proud tears.

A look of genuine shock settled across his face as resident meanie Craig Revel-Horwood revealed his paddle with the number 10 painted on it.

In a montage of clips in which the judges chatted about the remaining celebs, the four admitted they'd been blindsided by Kelvin's talents, especially considering he was a latecomer.

The Emmerdale actor stepped in just ahead of the show's launch after Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing sat it out because of an injury.

In the first week, he blew away the judges and public alike and rocketed to the top of the leaderboard, and has been a consistent board-topper since.

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