The ballroom was electric at Elstree Studios as the remaining celebrity contestants gave it plenty of razzle-dazzle to keep their places in the increasingly tough competition.

Actor Mark Benton will never be king of Strictly Come Dancing after he was voted off the show on Sunday.

He wanted to be Simba from Disney’s The Lion King, but his samba to ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’, accessorised with mane and whiskers, was more Cowardly Lion.

He and partner Iveta Lukosiute scored a respectable 29 points on Saturday, but their performance lacked bounce and they crashed out of Sunday’s dance off against Ashley Taylor-Dawson.

The Hollyoaks actor, who has had a low profile on the show after being seen by audiences as nice but dull, saved his skin by flashing flesh and a sneaky magic carpet as he danced a rumba to ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin.

Mr Benton, who has been in the dance off four times, said the show had been a “ball” and thanked everyone for the fun he had had.

Coronation Street Star Natalie Gumede lacked a bit of her usual sparkle as she came her closest to the dance off, scoring only one point more than Mr Taylor-Dawson.

Her American Smooth to Jennifer Hudson’s ‘I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ from Dreamgirls was incredibly fluid but, according to Judge Len Goodman, had “too much swishing and not enough Foxtrot”.

It was the job of footballer’s wife Abbey Clancey to steal the show, blazing a trail in the ballroom with her fiery salsa to Saturday Night Fever that scored her the first 40 points of the series.

Only six contestants remain at Borehamwood for next week’s quarter finals, and now there is everything to play for.