5:00PM, Oct 28, 2009
The competition's getting tough this week as Hollyoakers Ricky Whittle and Ali Bastian battle at the top of the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Craig Revel Horwood has a confession about Alesha Dixon and The X Factor's Brian Friedman is sticking his oar in.
Hollyoaks: The Musical?
Sounds like Ricky Whittle might be taking his newfound love of dancing a step too far. The Hollyoaks actor has proposed the idea of a musical episode to his bosses at Channel 4.
"I have been asking about Hollyoaks: The Musical, but they're a very busy cast," he told Digital Spy. "They're a very talented cast, they're annoyingly talented, but I finally feel like I'm up to everyone else's level now.
Ricky's also interested in following in Patrick Swayze's footsteps: "Antonio Banderas is getting on and sadly Patrick Swayze has gone, so I could be the lead in Dirty Dancing 4. I'd love to do Patrick," he told The Sun, adding: "I would be willing to wear a dodgy wig".
Never mind a wig, if the rumours about Ricky's eating habits are true he might be in need of a girdle.
Pro partner Natalie Lowe has confessed she's fed up of trying to get Ricky to eat healthily.
"I'll let him eat Nando's," she confessed. "He wasn't eating enough in the first weeks and we kept losing him. I'll let him eat whatever he wants now, I've just given up. I'm sick of trying to feed him fruit and vegetables."
But Ricky is unrepentant about his fast food habit. "If anything it's made my six-pack more defined," he claimed. "I have lost an inch and a half of my waist and nearly a stone in body fat. If anyone wants to diet out there - forget about it! Eat what you want and just dance."
Excuse us as the entire TV Towers team rush out to sign up for salsa classes while reaching for the Krispy Kremes...
Strictly Needs The X Factor
The X Factor's choreographer Brian Friedman reckons a touch of glitz and glamour would boost Strictly's ratings.
"There's something about the American version (Dancing With The Stars) which is not translating into the British version. Somehow in America we've really managed to buff and shine the show, make it high gloss, it looks really expensive.
"The BBC needs to kick it in a little bit and make it a little bit glossy, like X Factor. But regardless if it looks poor or not, I would still watch it if I had time."
Asked why Strictly is less popular than The X Factor, he commented: "Our show's better, that's the only reason I can think of."
Ouch. Get that man a saucer of milk.
Craig's Tough Love
Craig Revel Horwood has revealed that he dished out a bit of tough love to fellow judge Alesha Dixon when she faced a backlash from Strictly fans.
He told the Daily Star on Sunday: "Alesha has had a rough ride, but I told her the only way to deal with that was to toughen up.
"I told her that she just had to be herself and be much more opinionated than she had been before. She's got a great personality and she just needs to let that shine."
Strictly Time Slot Moved... Again
Reality fans have reason to celebrate as they'll be able to watch both Strictly and The X Factor for one week only.
The Beeb has moved the show on Sat 7 Nov to 6.25pm to allow coverage of the Festival Of Remembrance to be broadcast in its traditional timeslot.
You Should Be Dancing
Disco kings The Bee Gees will perform on this weekend's show, while the ten remaining couples will dancing for survival.
Coronation Street's Craig Kelly is the bookies' favourite for the boot this week, can he survive another dance off?
Find out when Strictly Come Dancing is next on TV.
