Strictly's Nikita Kuzmin reveals 'panic' in final hours of rehearsals

The pro and hockey star Sam Quek had a 'hard week'

Strictly Come Dancing 2024,14-09-2024,Generics,Generics,Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin,**EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 21:00 HRS ON SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2024**,BBC Public Service,Ray Burmiston
Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin had a tough week. (BBC)

Strictly's Nikita Kuzmin has admitted he had a "panic" as perfecting his and Sam Quek's Movie Week routine came down to the wire.

The pro dancer and the hockey ace performed a Paso Doble to Elevation from Tomb Raider, wowing the judges in the end and earning the praise "hot hot hot" from Craig Revel Horwood. But the pair have now shared that it had been a tough week and that the routine didn't click until late in the day.

Speaking on spin-off It Takes Two, Kuzmin confessed that he had been "starting to panic a bit".

Host Janette Manrara was asking Quek and Kuzmin when their dance "clicked", and Kuzmin replied: "Unusually on Thursday, on the last day, I would say afternoon, like in the last last..." Laughing, Manrara jumped in to say he was being "very specific".

Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin on It Takes Two. (BBC screengrab)
Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin on It Takes Two. (BBC screengrab)

"Trust me I remember Janette," he said. "Because you know what, you know one of those situations where it just doesn’t work at all and you are just starting to panic a bit as a professional because you know, well the competition is coming, here in the last hours.

"So I do remember Thursday. I was like (clasps his hands together) 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, everything is clicking'."

Quek agreed that Movie Week hadn't been the easiest for the pair. "It had been a hard week hadn't it?" she said. "On all fronts. Just been tired, choreography, trying to get certain steps."

However, despite their struggles on the dancefloor the pair pulled it off on the night and scored an impressive 30 out of 40.

The pair performed a Paso Doble. (BBC screengrab)
The pair performed a Paso Doble. (BBC screengrab)

Discussing how the Paso just suddenly started to work for them, Quek said: "It's a weird feeling isn’t it because you go from being a bit stressful, to a bit sticky here and there and then all of a sudden it clicks and it flows and you can run through it."

Kuzmin made it clear it was also down to Quek's attitude, turning to her and saying: "I need to give you kudos because you kept pushing and pushing and pushing."

The sports star said it was "amazing" that all the hard work paid off and that they had managed to get such a strong score.