Just eight couples are left in the contest and it is hard to choose who will lift the famous Strictly Come Dancing Glitterball trophy in the final on December 16.

As the celebrities prepare to step out at the Blackpool Tower, ballroom and Latin dance experts Maz Burgess and John Johnston run the Let's Dance Studio in Carlisle.

They see up to 100 keen amateur dancers every week for lessons and for regular social dances.

Maz and John follow the series, and Maz says: “I prefer a proper dancing competition, but we always record Strictly. We rarely get the chance to watch it live because we are often out at an event.

“I think the standard is very high this year. For once, I don't really have a favourite, I think the title will be between four couples.

“I think Alexandra, Joe, Debbie and Dawood look the best, but you never know.”

Here's Maz's expert verdict on the eight couples taking to the floor tonight:

Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez will do the Quickstep to The Gold Diggers' Song by 42nd street.

"She has youth on her side and the flexibility to do all of the moves in all of the dances and performs well in all the dances.

"They're a good partnership and she has not weak points."

Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova will do the Paso Doble to Live and Let Die by Wings They are definitely contenders.

"He has youth, but it is doubtful that he has had dance training, but you do get a certain amount when you go to drama school.

"I think men make better dancers than women, they seem to have more agility in their bodies. He has a weakness in the Latin dancing, he is not quite as flowing. I prefer to see him in a ballroom dance."

Debbie McGee and Giovanni Pernice will do the Samba to a Greatest Hits medley by the Spice Girls.

"Like Alexandra, she performs well in all the dances and I think she will go right through to the final.

"Her agility for her age has definitely surprised me. I should imagine she will do exactly what she is told to do in rehearsal because of her background as a performer. I don't think she has any weaknesses, if she does, it could possibly be in the Salsa or Argentine Tango."

Gemma Atkinson and Aljaž Škorjanec will do the American Smooth to Downtown by Petula Clark.

"She has got further than I thought she would, but I'm not sure she will go all the way to the final.

"She is not a natural but with the American Smooth, it is not as strict as other ballroom dances and there is the possibility of seeing something really good from her.

"It is quite technical but the standard you have to perform at is not does not apply the same as ballroom dances. There are lifts and you are allowed to come apart and don't have to stay together the whole time as you do in other dances."

Joe McFadden and Katya Jones will do the Salsa to Ride on Time by Blackbox Joe is definitely a contender for the final.

"He has a dance background and the ability to dance well and do what is asked of him.

"Because he has a drama background, he has the ability to learn quickly."

Jonnie Peacock and Oti Mabuse will do the Tango to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics.

"I think this could be Jonnie's last weekend. He has been lucky to get this far. He has done extremely well, but he is not a natural.

"I'm sure he has encouraged others with disabilities to try dancing. Disabilities come in all forms and you can't always see them, but it doesn't have to stop you dancing."

Mollie King and AJ Pritchard will do the Charleston to Wings by Little Mix.

"Mollie is definitely not a contender for the final. She just does not have the instinct. She is not a natural.

"She has done extremely well to get this far and she has been partnered well with AJ."

Susan Calman and Kevin Clifton will do the Paso Doble to Scott and Fran's Paso Doble.

"Susan has been a dark horse. I really did not think when I saw her dance for the first time that she would get this far.

"She has done exceptionally well with her footwork. I think she might do quite well tonight, but I'm not sure if she will make it to the final."

The next episode of Strictly Come Dancing will air on Saturday November 18 at 18:45.

Sunday's show is screened live on BBC1, and after the phone lines open, the results show will be pre-recorded.

It will then air on Sunday night, with the dance off and elimination being screened as well as a performance from this week's live guest.

If you want to join Maz and John, go to www.letsdancecumbria.co.uk

Debbie McGee: My Strictly journey

Debbie McGee doesn’t walk. She glides. At least that’s what it looks like as she makes her way across the room to talk all things Strictly Come Dancing.

It’s the first in a series of chats with her about the popular BBC One dancing show, which this weekend will see the professionals and their celebrity partners take to the dance floor at the prestigious Blackpool Tower ballroom.

At 59, McGee is the oldest celebrity competitor in this year’s crop of famous faces. Not that you’d know that by watching her on the dance floor.

So far she’s waltzed all over the other competitors like Mollie King – who is 29 years her junior – and scored the first 40 of the series for her tango with Giovanni Pernice.

She’s in phenomenal shape physically, which she puts down to a healthy lifestyle fuelled by yoga and pilates.

“Because I’ve always been in showbusiness and had to be on stage in slinky dresses, I’ve always liked eating, and the only way I can eat everything I want, is to exercise,” she explains matter-of-factly.

“But I’ve never been a gym girl. I did go to the gym for a couple of years and it’s the only time I ever got injured!”


Debbie McGee McGee rose to fame alongside her late husband, magician Paul Daniels.

The pair were married for more than 25 years until his death in March last year.

On April 1 this year, she shared a picture of them on their wedding day on Twitter, writing alongside it: “29 years ago today.”

In 2010, Daniels himself donned a tuxedo and competed in Strictly, where he was partnered with Ola Jordan. He was the second celebrity to be voted off the show during that year.

“It changes week by week,” she says explaining that a recent stint of publicity for a Channel 5 programme talking about her late husband stirred up memories.

“I had a really emotional previous two weeks to this, because there was a big tribute to Paul on Channel 5 and I had to do a lot of interviews recalling Paul, and so it got to me... I know how much he would just love it.

“But because he also did the show and lots of people on the show got to know him, his presence is kind of around and I think emotionally it’s got to me more than I thought it would, is how I could describe it.”

Her flexibility and dancing prowess aside, McGee also grabbed headlines following her first dance on Strictly which saw her locking lips with 27-year-old Pernice as their routine ended.

Days after the kiss, McGee told ITV’s This Morning that Daniels would have “loved” the kiss, adding: “And the fact that I caused, or appeared to have caused, this furore with the kiss on Saturday night... he just loved showbusiness, and that really was showbiz.”

She laughs when asked about the headlines suggesting their friendship could have a romantic edge.

She explains: “We really have a close relationship. It’s a special friendship... it’s not a love affair, it’s an incredible, deep friendship.”

A few weeks later when we catch up McGee, she also brushes off any suggestion she has become the object of affection to younger admirers.

“If I have, I haven’t noticed it. This programme takes over your life. I don’t see anybody, I haven’t been going out because it’s so exhausting.

Nobody knows who they are attracted to or who is going to ask you out, so I have no idea!” she says.

With the Blackpool Strictly spectacular looming, McGee says she has no idea what to expect from it, but adds: “I’ve got butterflies like I’m going to a teenage prom.”

During last year’s Blackpool Tower Ballroom extravaganza, soap star Danny Mac earned a perfect 40 for his stunning Charleston.

The pressure is on for all of the couples and McGee says making it to that stage of the competition is a nice way of giving back something to the professional dancers who work tirelessly alongside them.

She said: “For all the pros, it’s incredibly special to them and they’ve worked so hard for us that if we can get through, it’s our way of paying them back.

“You have to trust each other and for us as well, if you are used to performing on your own, if you go wrong it’s only you. Although I worked as part of a double act for a long time, so it’s a similar sort of thing, I always knew that whatever I did, Paul would cover up anyway and it didn’t matter, so I had an awful lot of freedom. But on this I’m really aware that if I go wrong I am letting Giovanni down. We are teams and you can’t help that feeling inside. You feel guilty.”

After Strictly, there will be no slowing down for McGee. She’ll be on stage doing a Beauty and the Beast-themed pantomime at the Grand Opera House in York over the festive season.

And then there’s the BBC Two programme, The Pilgrimage, that she filmed earlier this year, which saw her take on the gruelling long distance trek of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

McGee says the adventure, which saw her and other celebrities like Men Behaving Badly’s Neil Morrissey and The Reverend Kate Bottley take on the epic journey, was good practise for Strictly.

She said: “It was amazing. It kills you, but we did it the hard way. It prepared me for Strictly because we walked a hundred miles in two weeks and we stayed at the grottiest hostels, and they made us carry our rucksacks. We couldn’t send the luggage ahead. It was the most amazing experience.”

So far, McGee has managed the unimaginable during Strictly: she’s gotten the normally stone-faced judge Craig Revel Horwood to get down on bended knee to salute her dancing, and head judge Shirley Ballas handing over her “queen of Latin crown’” to her.

But will she go on to win the Glitterball trophy and crown? That would be magic.