STRICTLY Come Dancing viewers were astounded by daredevil Debbie McGee again as she performed breath-taking lifts on tonight’s show.
Paul Daniels’ widow amazed fans with her daring moves on the dance floor, but Davood Ghadami and Alexandra Burke topped the leaderboard.
Strictly kicked off with a very saucy salsa from Debbie, who looked ravishing in red.
The routine included two VERY daring lifts, with dance partner Giovanni Pernice even spinning her around with just one hand.
Head judge Shirley Ballas admitted Debbie, did make some mistakes, but it was still a very impressive performance.
She said: “It was on its way to being a championship salsa, but it wasn’t quite there.
“There were some mistakes… But Debbie you’re amazing!”
Bruno Tonioli said: “What a saucy scrumpet you were out there. It was the essence of Salsa. It must be [dance partmer] Giovanni’s effect.”
Craig Revel Horwood added: “Whatever you’re on darling, I want some… I love it.”
Darcey said: “It was extraordinary… when you got into that one-handed lift… incredibly impressive.”
She landed a score of 35.
Fans loved it too, flocking to Twitter to praise the Glitterball favourite for her moves.
One wrote: “Total respect to Debbie 59 and the lifts I bet even trained Darcy couldn’t still to that plus she looks FABULOUS #Strictly.”
Another added: “Oh my gawd that was spectacular @thedebbiemcgee @pernicegiovann1 #Strictly.”
Mollie King and AJ Pritchard danced the PasoDoble, and despite a passionate display between the rumoured lovers, the singer struggled and got a dressing down from the judges.
Bruno: It went right off time. It’s a difficult balance… It didn’t quite happen tonight.”
She got a worrying score of just 22, and she admitted her confidence has been down since getting stuck in the bottom two last week.
Mollie said: “It’s been really difficult, the bottom two really does knock your confidence.”
Jonnie danced the Foxtrot to Adele’s someone like you, and got a slightly disappointing review.
Darcey claimed he had actually gotten worse instead of better, saying: “You were better two weeks ago…”
Shirley added: “Some parts have improved but some parts need to keep improved… Not the best I’ve seen you, but not the worst.”
He got a score of 21.
Alexandra Burke won plenty of praise from the judges for her Argentinian Tango.
Craig said: “You never cease to amaze me, that was incredible”.
Darcey praised the pair’s “passion” and said they smouldered on the dance floor.
She managed a 10 from both Shirley and Craig, giving her a massive 38 points.
Gemma Atkinson got a harsh critique from the judges, who slammed her fancy footwork.
But the actress didn’t get a score reflecting their comments and ended up with a respectable 28.
Gemma admitted she felt sick during the dance and was having trouble with her shoes, which she flung off as soon as she walked up for her post-dance chat.
Susan Calman showed her serious side with her Tango to Katy Perry’s Firework and cried after the dance came to an end.
Shirley said: “Lovely footwork, strong heels, you closed your feet – you’ve still got to keeping working on your frame but from week one you’ve come huge strides.
She lost her smiley face and pulled a pout for the dance, and Bruno even compared her to TV’s Doctor Foster.
He said: “It was like watching Suranne Jones in Doctor Foster – I’m going to do everything no matter what it takes.”
Craig added: “You looked as if you were in pain, but I’ve loved your serious side.”
Her hard work paid off as she landed herself 27 from the judges.
Craig slated her dance and accused Ruth of messing up her entrance.
he said: “You Lacked style, flair and charisma and you messed up coming down the stairs… and once you got into the Foxtrot, you were actually trotting like a horse.”
Darcey Bussell added: “You were out of your depth,” and Shirley said: “It was not my favourite.”
Shirley called his performance “flawless” and Bruno said: “You are getting better and better each week.”
Even Craig agreed, saying simply: “Amazing!”
It was reflected in incredible scores, landing a 10 from both Shirley and Craig.
The EastEnders landed a whopping 38.
Joe McFadden performed a Rhumba to U2 classic One and scored an impressive 33 – making him the second highest-scoring male celeb in the dance.
The show ended with Davood and Alexandra coming top of the leaderboard with 38, and Debbie trailing behind with 35.
Joe came in third, with his 33, followed by Gemma with 28.
Ruth was at the bottom with 18, and Jonnie was only slightly ahead of her at 21.
Fans will now have to wait until tomorrow to find out who will be facing the dance off.