The pressure was on as ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ headed to Blackpool on Saturday (18 November) night, but one contestant who certainly pulled it out of the bag was Alexandra Burke.

The singer had three of the judges reaching for their ’10′ paddles after her impressive Quickstep routine to ‘We’re in the Money’ by Ginger Rogers.

Former ‘X Factor’ winner Alexandra and her partner Gorka Marquez topped the leaderboard, bagging 39 points out of a possible 40 for their performance at the iconic Tower Ballroom.

Judge Bruno Tonioli said: “As precious as 24-carat gold. The detail, the style, the accuracy, the intricacy, all done. It was magic, I couldn’t see any effort and yet you did something that could come out of a classic Hollywood movie.”

But Gemma Atkinson was hot on her heels, as she was awarded her highest score so far.

The ‘Emmerdale’ star scored two 10s and a overall score of 38, as she and partner Aljaz Skorjanec performed an American Smooth to ’Downtown’ by Petula Clark.

Head Judge Shirley Ballas remarked: “It takes a great lady to listen to the man leading. You had some great arm styling, you made me quite emotional actually. Your energy was wonderful.”

Elsewhere, Davood Ghadami scored 35 for his Paso Doble to ‘Live and Let Die’, while Debbie McGee had to settle for fifth place on the leaderboard, picking up 33 points for her Samba to a Spice Girls medley – one less than Joe McFadden scored for his 90s-inspired Salsa.

Susan Calman and Jonnie Peacock look to be in danger ahead of Sunday’s results show, scoring only 25 and 26 points respectively for their routines.

Find out who is next to leave the competition on Sunday at 7.15pm on BBC One.