Craig Revel Horwood tips Rose Ayling-Ellis for 'Strictly' final after perfect Argentine Tango

Craig Revel Horwood has said he thinks Rose Ayling-Ellis should go straight through to the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 final after a top-scoring Argentine Tango.

The EastEnders star and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice earned a perfect 40 for their second dance of the semi-final, which also closed the show.

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As the judges detailed the ways in which Ayling-Ellis had danced the perfect routine, tough-to-please Revel Horwood had just a few words for her.

He said: "That dance belongs in the final."

Motsi Mabuse was equally impressed, telling the couple: "Oh my word. What a statement. For me that was the dance of the night, the dance of the month, the dance of the series."

Head judge Shirley Ballas added: "I want to close my eyes and capture it and keep it in a little basket close to me forever."

Ayling-Ellis has been the bookies' favourite to win the whole series for a number of weeks and is expected by many to make the final, but with three other strong couples to compete against, anybody could be going home on Sunday night.

The only other couple to score a full 40 points in tonight's semi-final were AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington, who got top marks for their first dance, a Quickstep.

Anton Du Beke told them: "It's such a shame we can't go to Blackpool because that dance is worthy of the Tower Ballroom. If there was ever a dance I wished I could have done, it's that one."

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Also competing in the semi-final were John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, and Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.

Whaite and Radebe were both brought to tears by their emotional couple's choice inspired by their early experiences of coming out, with Whaite saying: "I want to dedicate our couple's choice dance to the people who perhaps feel a bit afraid in life and I want those people to know it gets better, believe me."

Watch: Who is Strictly's Rose Ayling-Ellis?