Ashley Roberts topped the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ leaderboard with her near-perfect contemporary dance on Saturday (10.11.18).
The Pussycat Dolls star and her professional partner Pasha Kovalev scored a whopping 39 points for the couple’s choice performance, which saw them take on a contemporary dance in honour of her late father Pat Roberts, who sadly took his own life on March 19 this year after a long battle with both his physical and mental health.
Their routine was almost perfect, with three judges – head judge Shirley Ballas, Dame Darcey Bussell, and Bruno Tonioli – scoring the pair a perfect 10, whilst acid-tongued Craig Revel Horwood gave the duo a nine, citing a lack of "breath" as the reason for his point deduction.
Speaking about the dance, Ashley said: "The story about the dance is loss – I lost my dad earlier this year. My dad and I connected over music and performing. So to have this show come in at this time – I just feel that it is a gift in so many ways … I know that he is with me, and that means a lot."
The moving dance – which was set to ‘Unsteady’ by X Ambassadors – even left Shirley wiping away tears as she praised Ashley for being brave enough to share her story.
Elsewhere in the show, Steps star Faye Tozer and her partner Giovanni Pernice were a close second with 36 points, whilst Charles Venn and Karen Clifton scored 35, and Paralympian Lauren Steadman picked up a score of 34 for her Viennese Waltz with AJ Pritchard.
Stacey Dooley and her partner Kevin Clifton found themselves tied in fifth place with Joe Sugg and Diane Buswell after both pairs scored 32, and Graeme Swann trailed slightly behind with 31.
The bottom two places went to Kate Silverton, who scored 30, and Danny John Jules, who dropped out of the 30-club to pick up 27 points.
The scores will be added to the result of the public vote in tomorrow’s results show, where two pairs will face the dance off and one will be sent home.
Ashley Roberts tops Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard
