Logical Conclusion

Nov 21, 2025 by Rob

’Tricky for Vicky’ proved to be a prophetic headline. The jive always had the look of a banana skin for Vicky but her exit from the competition still came as a big surprise.

You look at how things panned out last Saturday night and you can’t help feeling a tad suspicious it was all pre-meditated.

Balvinder, having survived three dance-offs, looked as if her race had been run, especially after opening the show with an uninspiring AS. Giving Vicky the same score of 27 initially suggested if Vicky did end up in the dance-off vs Balvinder she would likely be saved.

We know Amber has been struggling on the public vote and was vulnerable of ending up in the bottom two. Placing her at the top of the judges’ leaderboard, with no ties, looked an intentional move to ensure this didn’t happen.

And then there was La Voix, awarded a second pimp slot, and handed the sort of monster ramp that only fell short of the cast holding placards in the Clauditorium with ‘Vote La Voix’ emblazoned on them. Again, this was all contrived to ensure La Voix’s safety.

Vicky was further ensnared by having George and Karen directly above her. We can only infer both those two are riding high on the public vote. In other words, she may well have finished third top on the pv but still ended up in the bottom two.

Week 8 judges’ leaderboard:

Amber and Nikita – Paso Doble – (2) – 9, 10, 9, 10 = 38
Lewis and Katya – Tango – (7) – 9, 10, 9, 9 = 37
Alex and Johannes – Waltz – (3) – 8, 9, 9, 9 = 35
La Voix and Aljaz – Couple’s Choice – (8) – 7, 8, 9, 9 = 33
Karen and Carlos – AS – (5) – 7, 8, 8, 8 = 31
George and Alexis – Rumba – (6) – 6, 7, 8, 8 = 29
Balvinder and Julian – AS – (1) – 6, 7, 7, 7 = 27 – bottom 2
Vicky and Kai – Jive – (4) – 6, 7, 7, 7 = 27 – eliminated

Vicky had been very open previously discussing her nerves and a first dance-off for her, with head judge Shirley highlighting it was advantage Balvinder given her past dance-off experience, merely ratcheted up the pressure on Vicky even more. A loss of timing at some point along the way was inevitable, given the in-built jeopardy of a choreo-laden, speedy jive.

It wasn’t glaring – there had been speculation Vicky tripped or possibly fell – and this might have been ignored if the judges so chose, but they used it instead to justify saving Balvinder.

Pulling the rug out from under Vicky after seven weeks of journey building has to go down as one of the more perplexing eliminations in Strictly history, and you can only conclude it was strategic. So who is the potential benefactor?

George continued to underwhelm with a rumba that was more lyrical Couple’s Choice than rumba in content, and given he struggled with jive and CCC previously, a salsa doesn’t look one of the likely high scorers in Blackpool tomorrow evening. Yet he remains odds-on favourite to win the series trading 1.91.

Lewis was instructed to refine his topline by Anton after his excellent tango, and it’s always a case of nitpicking criticism for him.

He now has Charleston which looks like one of the potential Blackpool highlights. We may see his price come in again in-running tomorrow night.

Lewis and Amber remain head and shoulders above the rest of the field and it’s going to be difficult to keep either of them out of the final without some cunning intervention.

Karen has the ideal music for an impact paso, as does Alex to deliver a classic ballroom number with additional dancers drafted in.

Balvinder being granted Argentine tango had many Strictly traders scrabbling for a price on La Voix being the 8th elimination. A big production, cabaret samba had all the hallmarks of ‘thank you and goodbye’.

After the show went to such extreme measures to get La Voix to Blackpool, breaking news of her having to pull out due to injury felt karmic. TPTB must be asking themselves, was it all worth it?

It had looked like Balvinder could set a record five dance-off saves vs La Voix, or avoid the dance-off altogether, and for Amber to administer the last rites on La Voix. Now, it has become a whole lot harder for Balvinder to survive which also makes the decision to keep her in the competition for another week look utterly futile.

Should La Voix be unable to return next week (and the prognosis doesn’t sound encouraging), it will be a damp squib, two-couple final, and a repeat of 2021 when Rose Ayling-Ellis cruised to victory vs John Whaite. If anyone else drops out due to injury they’ll need to instigate a bye week to make sure there is a final this year.

And today we have breaking news of a former Strictly contestant being arrested on suspicion of rape. Claudia and Tess may just have chosen the exact right time to wave farewell to the show…

Please do let us know who got your Blackpool Week (week 9) vote(s) when the exit poll opens at the end of tomorrow night’s show.

Strictly 2025 Exit Poll – Week 9

Week 9 (Blackpool Week) dances and songs:

Alex and Johannes – Couple’s Choice to History Repeating by Propellerheads ft Miss Shirley Bassey and Look At Me by Geri Halliwell
Amber and Nikita – Quickstep to Reach by S Club 7
Balvinder and Julian – Argentine Tango to The Logical Song by Supertramp
George and Alexis – Salsa to Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) by Bob Sinclar
Karen and Carlos – Paso Doble to O Fortuna by Carmina Burana
Lewis and Katya – Charleston to I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys