Strictly Come Dancing 2025 week 2 arrived on our screens this weekend (October 4 and 5), bringing a few surprises on the way.
From Ross King impressing the judges with his tearful waltz, to Balvinder Sopal almost doubling her week-1 score with an impressive Charleston, to Tom Skinner’s silver vest and Stefan Dennis‘s wig – there was a lot to talk about!
Read on for our Strictly Come Dancing week 2 recap! It’s all in here…
Strictly Come Dancing week 2 recap: Amber on top!
One of the less surprising aspects of this weekend’s show was that West End star and Strictly newcomer Amber Davies topped the leaderboard with her partner Nikita Kuzmin.
Amber – who was celebrating her birthday – and Nikita danced a samba this week. They scored 29 from the judges. That was added to their 27 for the waltz from last week, and left them topping the leaderboard with a combined score of 56.
No one was surprised to see Amber impress the judges. As a musical theatre star, she is experienced at performing and dancing.
One viewer commented: “Really like Amber Davies but it does feel a bit unfair on the rest of the contestants when she is THAT good.”
Alex and Jojo wowed the judges in Strictly Come Dancing
But Amber and Nikita weren’t the leaders from week 2. Instead it was Doctor Who star Alex Kingston and her partner Johannes Radebe who were top after last night’s show.
They also danced a samba, scoring 31 from the judges! That was a whopping 10 points improvement on last week’s dance. Impressive stuff!
The fans loved it too, with one viewer calling their dance “pure joy”! “The pure joy of Alex Kingston doing the samba. That is what Strictly is about.”
Ross got emotional
Alex and Johannes weren’t the biggest improvers this week, though. First up was a teary Ross King and his partner Jowita Przystal. They danced a waltz, which didn’t score massively high – winning 15 points. That was an improvement on last week’s 10, though!
But that didn’t matter to an emotional Ross, who said he was the poster boy for people who can’t dance, but want to dance.
Craig was kind!
Judge Anton Du Beke called his dance “super duper” while notoriously mean Craig Revel Horwood said he loved what Ross was trying to achieve in the dance.
“No matter what I saw you need to keep going, darling,” he added.
“Ross King is what Strictly is about, complete novice having fun and embracing the emotion of the dance. Lovely comments from Craig,” said another.
Strictly Come Dancing week 2 recap: Charleston cheer!
EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal also wowed the audience and judges alike with her cheerful charleston.
She and partner Julian Caillon scored 30 from the judges – a big improvement on last week’s 17.
But the first celebrity to leave the show was Apprentice star Tom Skinner and partner Amy Dowden. He had to dance off against former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, and the judges opted to save Chris instead.
Tom had been a controversial addition to the Strictly line-up, and it was no surprise to see him saying goodbye to the competition so early.
One fan used Tom’s own catchphrase to joke about his early departure.
“Tom Skinner is out first,” the viewer shared. “Bosh.”
Read more: Strictly star Lewis Cope branded ‘show off’ by fans after performance leaves them divided
Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and share your thoughts.
