After an eventful Icons week, our twelve remaining contestants will take to the dancefloor again this Saturday to compete for a place in the Halloween show.

Bethany and Nancy sadly landed in the dance-off last week with their cha cha – and to me at least, putting them straight on the famously difficult Argentine Tango immediately afterwards feels a little cruel! Since the Argentine Tango is such an intricate dance where the lead and follow relationship is really important, it might make it even harder if they switch back and forth between leading and following, as they’ve been doing in their dances so far. Two weeks ago Anton suggested she could try sticking to leading as she’s stronger there – we’ll see on the night what they’ve chosen to do. They are dancing to the Harrison version of All The Things She Said.

And we’ll also be seeing two regular tangos, one from Graeme and Lauren, to Hernando’s Hideaway by The Johnston Brothers, and one from Lacey and Vito, to Blondie’s Atomic. It’ll be great to see another ballroom number from the accomplished and technical Graeme, and if his waltz three weeks ago is anything to go by, he’ll definitely be able to sell the moody drama of the tango too. I think Lacey and Vito should similarly be pretty sure to do well: Lacey seems more comfortable in ballroom than in Latin so far, and the judges have praised her coping with the tricky choreography Vito’s been throwing at her.

Cach received a lot of well-deserved praise for his Frank Sinatra foxtrot; will he be able to keep up the good work with the cha cha? The judges were pleased with the classy, traditional choreography they stuck to last week and his execution of ballroom technique, but surely there’ll be room for a little more incorporation of his own style in this Latin number. He and Maddie are dancing to Måneskin’s version of Beggin’. Also on cha cha are Will and Dianne, who are celebrating Will’s recent fatherhood with Daddy by Della Reese. Actually this is a really good cha cha song, with a strong beat and Latin flair. On the other hand, cha cha is one of Dianne’s weakest genres, and I’m sure Will’s also going to be very busy and tired this week, so that may not help!

One routine I feel pretty confident will score highly is Tabby and Mark’s couple’s choice, to stupid song by Olivia Rodrigo. They’re dancing a lyrical contemporary style, which we haven’t seen on Strictly for two years now, so it’ll be a breath of fresh air – plus Tabby’s athleticism and her background in circus skills should help her pull off some of the fun lifts and tricks we’ve come to expect from couple’s choice. Tabby’s been doing really well so far, and Mark is certainly earning his stripes as a new pro; it’s no surprise she’s already one of the favourites to win with the bookies.

The couple’s choice was certainly a success for Shaun and Alexis last week, but now they’re back onto a stricter ten dance routine which could be tricky. Shaun’s arguably falling behind the rest of the pack in terms of technique and I’m not hugely confident that a demanding jive – to Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande’s Faith – will save him from the dance-off this week.

They’re not this week’s only jivers; Lawrence and Jowita have also drawn the fastest Latin dance, and will be performing to The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim. Jowita’s only performed jive once on Strictly before, with 2022 winner Hamza, and she also admitted on It Takes Two last year that it’s her least favourite genre of dance, so it’s possible that this could be a less successful week for them. However, Lawrence seemed to come out of his shell a lot with his salsa, so hopefully he can carry that increased energy forward since the judges will be looking for personality and performance as well as technique.

Speaking of salsa, Dani and Nikita will be taking on that challenge this Saturday night. Dani got praise for her exuberant samba on the first week of the show and the salsa will require similar technique, so if she can put aside the nerves that Anton commented on in her recent rumba, surely she’ll be able to claw her way slightly higher up the leaderboard than she did last week. They’re dancing to Despechá by Rosalía.

After Carlos insisted paso doble was his favourite dance to Jaime last week, he’s now changed his mind in favour of foxtrot! Just in time for them to perform it (to the lovely Man I Need by Olivia Dean) – what a coincidence. Foxtrot is known as the trickiest of the five ballroom dances, and doesn’t always do well with the judges; last year it had an average score of only 26.75 across the whole series. But Jaime’s had a couple of strong weeks since her surprise appearance in the first dance off, so hopefully she can keep up the good work.

Our last ballroom number this week will be an energetic quickstep from John and Katya to McFly’s Five Colours in Her Hair. Interestingly, McFly band members have tended to do well on Strictly themselves, with Harry even taking home the glitterball in 2011 – so maybe some of that magic will rub off on John through the music!

But most importantly, poor Delta will be back on the dancefloor after having to miss last week due to a rib injury. She’s dancing a rumba to It’s All Coming Back to Me Now by Celine Dion and I personally couldn’t be more excited. Delta’s natural fluidity and great hip and leg action will serve her well in this dance, and I can’t wait to see how our Queen of the Rumba Shirley Ballas responds to what’s sure to be a stunning routine.