Strictly 2026 viewers were left questioning the judges’ scoring tonight (Saturday, October 17), with some accusing them of “overmarking” Shaun Wright-Phillips after his latest performance.
The former footballer found himself in the bottom two last week, but the judges believed he had turned things around with his Couple’s Choice routine, praising the improvement they saw on the dancefloor.
Shaun and Alexis performed a Couple’s Choice routine (Credit: BBC)
Shaun Wright-Phillips performs Couple’s Choice on Strictly 2026
Tonight’s Strictly saw the celebrities pay tribute to musical legends as Icons Week got underway.
Shaun transformed into singer James Brown for the occasion, taking to the dancefloor with professional partner Alexis Warr for a Couple’s Choice routine set to a medley of Brown’s greatest hits.
The performance went down well with the judges, who were unanimous in their praise for the football star. All four felt Shaun had made clear progress since last weekend, with Craig Revel Horwood particularly impressed.
“This is my favourite one of your dances. It was brilliant!” Craig declared.
Motsi Mabuse was equally enthusiastic, telling Shaun: “You bring us joy.”
Shirley Ballas also praised the performance, saying: “You came out here, and you sold every part of it, and I really, really enjoyed it.”
Anton Du Beke agreed, adding: “I thought this was terrific, well done you.”
Shaun and Alexis were rewarded with a score of 28, receiving sevens from all four judges.
Lacey and Vito scored a similar score to Shaun (Credit: BBC)
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
