Karim Zeroual has danced his way to the top of the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ leaderboard.
The 19-year-old actor and CBBC presenter impressed judges during the second live show of the series on Saturday (28.09.19), when he took to the dance floor alongside his professional partner Amy Dowden to perform a foxtrot.
Each judge – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mobuse, Shirley Ballas, and Bruno Tonioli – gave Karim and Amy eight points, giving them a total of 32 points, and putting them at the top of the leaderboard.
Karim’s score equalled the score given to Michelle Visage, who danced a Viennese waltz with her partner Giovanni Pernice, but as the scores from this week were added to those awarded in the first live show last week, Karim beat the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ star to the top spot.
Speaking about Karim’s performance, Craig said he was "one to watch", and dubbed his performance as "brilliant".
And Bruno said: "Exceptional, elegant, wonderful musicality, like a young Gene Kelly."
But whilst Karim soared to the top of the leaderboard, Olympic rowing star James Cracknell and his partner, newcomer Luba Mushtuk, found themselves at the bottom after failing to impress the judging panel with their jive, which scored them just 13 points.
After scoring only 11 points last week – when he was also at the bottom – James landed in last place once again.
This week, football star David James actually scored the fewest points – earning just 10 for his paso doble – but he was saved from last place thanks to higher scores last week.
‘Strictly Come Dancing’ will return on Sunday (29.09.19), when the judges scores will be added to the public vote, and the two lowest scoring pairs will go head to head in this series’ first dance-off.