Strictly Come Dancing 2022 week four results live: Matt Goss is out

It might have looked like order was restored in the Strictly ballroom on Sunday night, with the celebrity at the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard – Matt Goss – becoming the latest to exit the show. But voters also delivered another shock, dropping Kym Marsh, who was fifth on the leaderboard after her highly praised samba, into the dance-off with Goss.

It certainly adds spice to a series that felt like it might be too predictable early on. Now, even the show’s most nimble movers will be fretting that just one bad dance, and a lack of votes, could easily doom them. Meanwhile no-hopers like Tony Adams are becoming national treasures.

Matt Goss bows out

He’s been lurking at the bottom of the leaderboard for a while now, making it through one dance-off against Kaye Adams and escaping a second thanks to viewer votes, but this week the Bros singer’s luck ran out. At least he made the reprise of his jive to All Shook Up a memorable last dance – by abandoning all technique and coordination and simply hurling his limbs around as though fighting off a swarm of bees.

Judging Goss and partner Nadiya Bychkova against Marsh’s samba to Volare by the Gipsy Kings with Giovanni Di Prima, Craig Revel Horwood said that he felt both couples had gone up a major notch, adding “Matt, you went fantastically mad in that, I loved it, and Kym you were really, really great. But the couple I would like to save is Kym and Graziano.” Motsi Mabuse agreed, while Anton Du Beke said they should be thrilled with how they handled the high-pressure situation. He thought it was Goss’s best performance of the series. But he felt Marsh had higher technical ability.

After two weeks of disagreeing with the rest of the panel – even though her vote didn’t count – head judge Shirley Ballas approved their decision. She praised both couples for their commitment, but likewise thought Marsh had better technical skill.

Goss said Strictly had been an extraordinary experience, after he’d spent the past 25 years in America, and thanked the judges for their helpful candour about his posture. He also thanked his partner Bychkova, “a world champion with all the patience.” In return, Bychkova called him “a beautiful soul, very kind human and a real gentleman.”

A blow for Kym Marsh

There were high expectations for the singer and actress coming into Strictly, given her performance background, but she struggled early on, producing a nervous jive and underwhelming Viennese waltz. Getting a character in Movie Week seemed to help: Marsh broke through with a Sweet Charity Charleston and scored two 9s.

Granted, samba is a technically challenging dance, and she made a good effort on Saturday night, attempting plenty of samba content instead of hiding behind gimmicks. But the judges’ scores – or some of them at least: a 7 from Revel Horwood up to 9 from Du Beke – still felt overgenerous, as though they didn’t want to dent her newfound confidence.

That backfired badly. Instead, viewers either felt she was overscored or perhaps just assumed she was safe in fifth place, and so neglected to vote for her. She did handle the dance-off well – but will this affect her performance going forward? We saw Fleur East come out fighting after her stint in the bottom two; now Marsh will need to match that grit. Given that she was already giving a farewell speech even before the dance-off, I fear for her.

You’re my favourite

Brucie used to say that to anyone who was having a hard time with the judges. This year, it feels like voters are assuming his comforting role. Tony Adams is emerging as an unlikely dance hero: not just a comedy act, as we saw with his Full Monty striptease, but a contestant who is really having a sincere go. He probably won’t lift the trophy, but charmed viewers may well keep him in till Blackpool.

But it also feels like support is divided among many of the eclectic 2022 cast. At various points, voters have “saved” the likes of James Bye, Will Mellor, Ellie Taylor, Hamza Yassin and Helen Skelton from dance-off danger, or latched onto the inspirational words of Ellie Simmonds or Jayde Adams. That coveted title of fan favourite could still land anywhere.

Molly Rainford and Tyler West have yet to be too concerned with voting bases – particularly the former, whose scores have all been in the 30s so far. But it’s rarely the “best” dancer who wins on Strictly, so the unpredictable voting patterns should make everyone, even Rainford, nervous. One bad week and you could be in trouble.

Musical interludes

The show opened in moody fashion with a professional group number set to Lana Del Ray’s Young and Beautiful. The Argentine tango routine was led by the simmering same-sex pair of Karen Hauer and Luba Mushtuk, while an expressive contemporary section saw Hauer square off against Nadiya Bychkova. The passion was only slightly undercut by everyone wearing a hideous shade of green.

We also had George Ezra performing his single Dance All Over Me – an appropriate Strictly title if there ever was one. Professionals Kai Widdrington and Michelle Tsiakkas (the latter wearing a rather fabulous blue jumpsuit) obediently draped themselves all over one another in a burst of flailing arms and big lifts.

Centenary celebrations incoming

Next week sees Strictly’s BBC 100 Special: a theme week marking the corporation’s 100th birthday. This means we’ve got the bonkers prospect of ballroom dances set to the music of legendary BBC programmes – such as Tony Adams doing a cha cha cha to the Grandstand theme tune, Jayde Adams doing Charleston to Victoria Wood’s Ballad of Barry and Freda (amazing), and Ellie Taylor doing…something to the Casualty. Breaking the arm of whoever it was in wardrobe that made her wear a Bo-Peep bonnet?

Helen Skelton, of course, is dancing to Blue Peter. Here’s one they planned earlier.

Do you think the right pair were in the dance-off? Let us know in the comments below