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Strictly Come Dancing has made history this week with its first ever couples Bollywood performance.

Although the show has kept it relatively safe with its song choices this year – aside from some controversy around the decision to have footballer Paul Merson dance to “Vindaloo” – it ventured into new territory on Saturday (5 October).

TV medic Dr Punam Krishan who is partnered with Gorka Márquez, performed the routine in a nod to her South Asian heritage, leaving judges in tears.

Judge Motsi Mabuse was visibly moved as she praised the moment as a landmark.

“That really moved me, I know so many people are watching you right now and feel so pleased to watch this on Strictly Come Dancing,” she said as she wiped away tears.

“Just watching you, your hair flying, eyes sparkling and doing the whole storytelling. This has been so wonderful to see, so wonderful to see you in that way and if you give us this energy a couple more weeks… brilliant dancing.”

The song choice for the performance, “Bhole Chudiye”, is from the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, one of the highest-grossing movies in the Indian movie industry.

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Krishan said the performance meant “everything” to her, adding “you can’t be what you can’t see” as she said her four-year-old self would be proud. She dedicated the dance to her late grandfather, who she said had always had concerns that his grandchildren would be out of touch with their South Asian culture.

Although Strictly has had Bollywood performances by professionals before, Will Young and Karen Clifton performed to Nicole Scherzinger’s song “Jai Ho”, which samples Bollywood music by AR Rahman, it is the first time that a traditional Bollywood dance has been performed by a couple.

In an interview on It Takes Two earlier this week, Dr Krishan called the movie the equivalent of Love Actually.

“Essentially, it’s about families coming together, there’s lots of cheesy love stories, it’s about reunions, generations… it’s just such an all-time, feel-good film,” she told host Janette Manrara.

THE Strictly Come Dancing pros look set to come together for a magical rom-com routine in honour of the Movie Week specials.

The BBC dancers will come together for the impressive routine based around classic rom-com hits.

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Neil Jones will be taking centre stage in the performance as he plays the role of the leading man.

Viewers will see Neil and his fellow pro’s tell a story of love jam-packed with laughter and humour.

Choreographed by Jason Gilkison, the routine will be the perfect end to a weekend full of movie-inspired routines.

A BBC insider said of the routine: “Expect sparks to fly and hearts to skip a beat as the pros take to the floor in a routine that celebrates love in true Strictly style.”

The pro’s will don a variety of brightly coloured outfits as well as a few retro fits for the routine which is set to kickstart the evening’s results show.

Elsewhere, fans will be treated to a performance by renowned pianist Alexis Ffrench as the musical guest on the night.

It will also feature the dreaded dance-off with one celebrity couple set to go home.

Tom Dean and his pro partner Nadiya Bychkova found themselves eliminated last week in one of the most surprising week one exits ever.

They lost to pop singer Toyah Wilcox, however it is not looking good for the star either with fans already convinced that she will be the next to leave after noticing a giveaway ‘clue’.

Many took to X, formerly Twitter, to complain that she had been given the dreaded “death slot” by going second, a move which could have sealed her exit.

Writing online, one fan said: “Toyah has the death slot, seems like they want her to go now that she’s made it to Movie Week.”

Another added: “A Samba and Toyah is in the death spot. OH DEAR!”

A third wrote: “Lol @ production doing Toyah and Neil no favours by dumping them in the death slot.”

Before a fourth penned: “Toyah and Neil death slot oh it’s over for them.”

Strictly Curse – The Lowdown

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STRICTLY Come Dancing’s latest series has already been hit by rumours of a BBC show ‘curse’ – yet what is it?

A host of Strictly Come Dancing stars have been struck by the Strictly Curse during the past two decades.

This is where celebrities who may or may not be attached in the outside world become more than friends with their professional partners.

A total of 20 relationships are said to have been impacted so far over the show’s 20 years.

It has seen relationships crumble with dance floor romances and punishing rehearsal schedules to blame.

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This includes the partnerships of Louise and Jamie Redknapp as well as Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer.

Controversially, Judge Craig Revel Horwood once said of the curse: “I think of it as a blessing, to be honest. One person is married, the other one had a girlfriend but my point in this entire thing is: if you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway.

“There has to be something wrong in your relationship before it all goes awry.”

Series one winner Brendan Cole left his fiancé, fellow Strictly professional Camilla Dallerup, during filming for the very first series in spring 2004. 

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Brendan was said to have fallen for his celebrity partner and inaugural winner Natasha Kaplinsky, although the duo didn’t confirm they were romantically involved.

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Every year, Strictly Come Dancing has early favourites – and they often soon prove themselves worthy of the label. This year, former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri quickly emerged as one to watch, scoring 30 in week one followed by a truly astonishing 35, placing her top of the combined leaderboard.

JLS singer JB Gill – dancing with Amy Dowden as she triumphantly returns after cancer treatment – and Miranda actress Sarah Hadland have wasted no time in impressing the judges either. But Saturday night’s live show saw another celebrity steal the show – and in the process, she proved there’s everything to play for in this year’s series.

In a Movie Week packed with incredible transformations and memorable routines, the performance sure to stick in viewers’ minds came from Dr Punam Krishan. The Morning Live doctor – who is, by the way, continuing to work for the NHS while on the show – delivered a Strictly first as she performed a Bollywood Couple’s Choice routine to “Bole Chudiyan” from the hit film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

It was clear from the introductory VT just how much the performance meant to Krishan, who took dance partner Gorka Marquez to her parents’ home for a family meal as he threw himself into the world of Bollywood for their training.

“I never saw Indian girls dancing on mainstream television, so to be doing an Indian dance on a platform like Strictly is huge,” Krishan explained, adding that the routine was in tribute to her grandfather who passed away during the pandemic.

On the dance floor, she thrived. The nerves of week one and two completely disappeared as Krishan made her way towards Marquez, confidently matching her partner move for move, and beaming as she threw herself into lifts.

Afterwards, she broke down in tears as she told host Claudia Winkleman: “That meant everything… I just went to four-year-old me, who would have loved to see something like this when I was growing up. But you can’t be something you can’t see.”

Krishan’s routine, and the poignant moments either side, is what Strictly is all about. It’s joyous to see a programme in its twentieth year still committed to show firsts. Especially as this was one which catapulted one of its most likeable and down-to-earth contestants up the leaderboard and into the Strictly history books.

The routine earned a comparison Krishan would do well to remember. Judge Motsi Mabuse – herself overcome with emotion and doing her best not to cry – likened the dance to Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal’s Afrobeats Couple’s Choice. That routine, easily one of the best to ever be performed on the show, was also a Strictly first and paved the path to Hamza lifting the Glitterball Trophy back in 2022.

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As was the case with Yassin, Krishan isn’t the most well-known star from her series but as he did, she’s proven that really doesn’t matter. Never mind who is favourites or has the highest number of social media followers. The best Strictly moments are when a celebrity seemingly comes out of nowhere surprises us all – and they have the power to turn the competition on its head.

Mabuse started a sentence during her critique that she didn’t quite finish as she said: “If you give us that energy for a couple more weeks…” Motsi, I hope you don’t mind but I’d love to tweak that for you. Punam, if you bring that energy to the rest of Strictly, the Glitterball Trophy could be yours. And who wouldn’t want to see that?