Strictly Come Dancing: semi-final results – as it happened

As always, thanks for watching along with me, sequin-spangled community. Our awesome foursome now dance into the gala grand final. They will tackle not one, not two, but three full routines apiece in their bid to get their mitts on that gaudy glitterball trophy.

It airs next Saturday at the earlier time of 6pm on BBC1. Meet you back here to raise our cyber scoring paddles and salute our new Strictly champion. Until then, for the penultimate time this series: keeeeep dancing! Thank you and a glittery goodnight.

A swift round-up of your semi-final results thoughts. Somersetlass says: “So entirely the right people are in the final – what a result! Have a fab week and I’ll see you back here on Saturday for what promises to be a spectacular final.”

shazza2704 says: “What Chris and Dianne have achieved is truly groundbreaking. I hope the Beeb have a programme planned filled with outtakes, funny and serious, from their training sessions . It would be a ratings winner without a doubt.”

TheMathDiva adds: “Right result tonight. Although Pete’s AT was very stylish, he was the worst dancer left by a long way and has been for many weeks. His dancing was clunky and clumsy. While I appreciate his journey, I want to see a final of fabulous dancing. Now we shall. If we are judging ‘the journey’, I think the glitterball should go to Chris. Certainly Dianne has had the hardest job teaching her celeb partner to dance. What a fabulous job she has done, all credit to her!”

TV viewers can now flip to ITV1 for An Evening with Dua Lipa, to Channel 4 for Jamie Cooks Christmas or BBC Four for Judi Dench Night.

At 9pm, it’s the I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! final on ITV1 (Rev Richard Coles for the win), Wolf Hall: The Mirror & The Light on BBC1 (Mark Ryalace for the win) or Alpine Hotel at Christmas on Channel 4.

10pm, darkly stylish six-part Italian crime drama Dostoevsky starts on Sky Atlantic.

If you fancy a Sunday night film, tonight’s picks are Diamonds Are Forever (8.05pm on ITV4), Anchorman (9pm on E4), Bonnie & Clyde (10pm on BBC Two) or Nightmare Alley (10pm on Channel 4). Stay classy, San Diego.

So now we know our final quartet. To my mind, they’re the correct couples. Tasha Ghouri has been the contest’s pace-setter, even if recent public votes suggest she won’t win. Sarah Hadland has formed one of the most consistent and entertaining couples this year with Vito Coppola.

JB Gill is hitting form at the right time and has overtaken Sarah to become the second highest scorer behind Tasha. Chris McCausland has been the feelgood story of the series and could well win.

Perhaps you could argue that Montell Douglas or even Jamie Borthwick deserved a place but we’ve got four worthy finalists. It has all the makings of a cracking climax to the contest next Saturday.

Pete’s exit means we also bid farewell to his pro partner, Polish pocket rocket Jowita Przystal. In only her third series, she did an astonishing job to steer Pete all the way to the semi-final. It’s testament to her teaching ability and the close bond they formed (complete with the obligatory showmance rumours in the tabloids).

Jowita has an impressive Strictly record. In her debut series with a celebrity partner, she lifted the glitterball trophy with wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin. She suffered an early exit with Paralympian Jody Cundy last year but exceeded all expectations this time.

It has surely established her as one of the premier female pros and put her in line for a promising partner in 2025. Just go easy on the cha-cha trousers in future, eh?

She’s scored an incredible 22 perfect 10s across the series, including two of this year’s three maximum 40-pointers. She averages almost 37 points per dance. She’s topped the leaderboard more often than not. It frequently looks like Aljaž Škorjanec is dancing with a fellow professional, rather than a celebrity.

However, Tasha Ghouri has been consigned to two consecutive dance-offs, suggesting she doesn’t have sufficient public support to win the glitterball. It’s a fate that’s been suffered by several spectacular hoofers over the years. The likes of Ashley Roberts, Danny Mac, Frankie Bridge and Alexandra Burke spring to mind.

Seen as having too much prior dance experience and starting from too high a base, they lack what voting viewers truly adore: yep, a journey. It’s not just high scores which make a worthy champion. Tasha looks destined to be one of Strictly’s winners-that-never-was.

Judge Anton du Beke came over all flustered last night when he goofed by referring to Pete Wicks’ Argentine tango as “your last dance of the series”. “Do you know something I don’t?” quipped Pete. An embarrassing gaffe by Tony Beak but it proved spot-on. The lionine Essex boy’s fanbase couldn’t save him this time. Dance justice was done at last.

“In-for-a-penny Pete” has grafted hard, learned lots and improved steadily over the past three months. He’s discovered himself, falling in love with dance along the way – the textbook Strictly journey™ – but that only gets you so far. At some point, you need to deliver a breakthrough number. Pete never truly did. He found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard five times in six weeks but was repeatedly saved by the public vote.

Happily, Strictly viewers are a canny bunch with a firm sense of fairness. They tend to know when enough is enough and eventually make the right decision. Maybe Pete didn’t deserve to outlast the likes of Jamie Borthwick, Montell Douglas and Wynne Evans. He definitely didn’t deserve to deny one of his fellow semi-finalists a spot in the grand final. As soon as votes dried up and the red spotlight shone down, he was doomed. Tasha Ghouri averages nearly 10 points per dance more than the otter-haired bad boy from Harlow.

His highlights included swinging in on a vine for his George Of The Jungle samba, his 50s-styled quickstep, his Joker waltz on Halloween and his heartfelt contemporary Couple’s Choice. Not forgetting, of course, that Blackpool hen do cha-cha in pink PVC trousers which left little to the imagination.

Pete was in his element when he could play a character, embrace it and throw himself in. He certainly didn’t merit the online trolling he’s received in recent weeks for eliminating superior dancers. Pete can’t help it if he’s popular, even if he’d begun to look sheepish and shocked with each escape. Elimination was ultimately merciful.

He loved rescue dogs, his mum and his nan – an endearing combination. His dry, deadpan wit was also welcome amid all the glitterball gushing. The heavily tattooed TOWIE alumnus arguably should’ve gone in November but he’s done his career no harm at all with this extra primetime exposure. As Pete said with admirable honesty, he’s been on TV for a decade but never felt this vulnerable or lacking in confidence. Try telling that to the Tower Ballroom audience, Pete. Their eyes are still watering.

As Team Petita take one last turn around the floor to You’re My Best Friend by Queen, the credits roll and their castmates gather around for damp-eyed hugs. Pete’s mum looks on proudly from the studio audience. Nice that she’s there for his final dance.

Please stay with us for analysis, reaction and a round-up of your comments.

Well, obliquely, anyway. His pro partner Jowita Przystal returns the compliment, saying: “Thank you for the trust you have given me since day one. I know it wasn’t easy but with your hard work, your commitment and your heart, which is the most amazing thing, you were winning every week.

“For me, every dance was special – even the cha cha in Blackpool! Remember on day one you said ‘I’m not going to stay long in this competition because I cannot dance’ but now I can say to you, yes you can.” He can indeed.

In his exit speech, a choked-up Pete Wicks tells Tess: “It’s been wild. I’ve been quite honest about the fact that I didn’t necessarily want to do Strictly in the first place but everyone else wanted me to do it – and I am so glad that I did! You don’t always have to be the best but if you enjoy something then why shouldn’t you have a go at it? I’ve tried my best from day one, I said I was in for a penny, in for a pound and I’ve done it, it’s been beautiful.

“There’s a lot of things I’m going to take away from this, but one of the most special things is Jowita. You’re one of the most incredible people – not just as a dancer but as a person. You’ve been a ray of sunshine for me. You’ve helped me through things in the past three months that I didn’t think I could do and you made me believe in myself and that means more to me than anything.” Well said, sir.

Her casting vote isn’t needed – she’s only needed it twice this series – but Twirly Shirley, the Queen of Latin, says she would have voted the same.

There we have it. The majority vote means that Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal become the 11th duo to depart the Strictly 2024 dancefloor, while Tasha Ghouri and her pro partner Aljaž Škorjanec go through to the final.

Tasha and Aljaž, saying “an incredible semi-final, Pete’s development has been joyous but for technical quality”.

Tasha and Aljaž too.

Tasha and Aljaž, saying “loved Pete’s showbiz splashiness but I’m going for quality”.