Who left Strictly Come Dancing tonight? Recap as fourth celebrity is eliminated in series 23 week 5

• Strictly has waved goodbye to yet another star.
• The fourth elimination has taken place in series 23.
• But who left after Icons week?

Strictly Come Dancing’s stars have put the icon in ballroom after another fab-u-lous week. The celebs and their professional partners took on legends from the music world.

Cher, Cheryl, and Dolly were among the superstars being channelled on the dance floor this weekend. It saw some big scores being handed out and a few huge surprises.

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Stefan Dennis had to withdraw from the competition earlier in the week due to suffering an injury. He is the third star forced to quit the line-up since it was announced back in August.

But despite the Neighbours favourite leaving before the start of Icons week, the dreaded dance-off was still waiting for two of the stars. Here’s all you need to know:

What did the leaderboard look like in Strictly week 5?

It was the second themed week of the competition as the remaining Strictly Come Dancing stars took on ‘icons week. They channelled legends of the music world from Beyoncé to Prince and even Harry Styles.

The Strictly panel of judges cast their eyes over the routines on Saturday (October 25) night and gave out the scores. It ranged from the high to surprisingly low.

But what exactly did the leaderboard look like after the judges scores in week 5? Here it is:

• Lewis and Katya - 34
• Vicky and Kai - 33
• Amber and Nikita - 33
• Alex and Johannes - 32
• Harry and Karen - 30
• Jimmy and Lauren - 30
• Karen and Carlos - 28
• Ellie and Vito - 28
• Balvinder and Julian - 28
• La Voix and Aljaž - 28
• George and Alexis - 27

It was certainly crowded at the bottom of the leaderboard with five of the couples separated by just one point. Red-hot favourite George found himself at the bottom, after emerging as the frontrunner with the bookies before icons week.

How does the Strictly Come Dancing scoring work in 2025?

Once again the scoring is based on a mixture of the scores from the judges and the public vote. These two are combined together to give an overall score and that has been worked out, the celebrities who are the bottom of the table will face the dreaded dance-off.

When it comes to the dance-off, the decision to leave is left solely to the judges. However, in a twist for 2025, the head judge does not always have the casting vote - which will separate the two celebrities if the votes are tied after the dance-off.

For series 23, the casting vote is being rotated around the panel and for week five Anton Du Beke had it. But would he need to use it?

Who was in the dance-off in Strictly week 5?

Despite the judges votes on Saturday night (October 26), the public still got to have their say. After the votes were totted up, the bottom two for week 5 was revealed to be:

• Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley
• Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin

It was a huge shock as neither Jimmy nor Amber were near the bottom when it came to judges scores. Amber had been a one-time favourite to win after replacing Dani Dyer.

But fortunately for the bottom two, they still had a chance to save their spot in the competition. Taking to the ballroom floor once more, the couples performed their routine for week four once more.

Jimmy did an American Smooth to Prince’s Purple Rain while Davies and Kuzmin performed a Cha Cha to Ariana Grande’s Break Free.

Who left Strictly Come Dancing in week 5?

After the dance-off, the judges had the chance to decide which of the two celebrities who will leave or stay. Unlike last week, the decision was unanimous and Anton Du Beke didn’t have to use his deciding vote.

The judges decided to save Amber Davies, which meant that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink became the fourth celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing in series 23. All of the judges opted to save Amber.

Jimmy said: “I have absolutely loved my experience. I can only say thank-you very much for letting me have this experience and to my daughters for pushing me to come here and do this.

“I never expected that I would enjoy it this much. The people behind the scenes, from the wardrobe people to the hairdressers to the make-up people, are absolutely magnificent – thank-you very much.

“This experience is going to live with me forever.” His exit came after securing his highest score of the competition from the judges during the performance last night.

Jimmy and professional partner Lauren Oakley will appear on Strictly: It Takes Two tomorrow (October 27) at 6.30pm. It will be broadcast on BBC Two.

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