From the leggy wonder to the lanky learner – who’s making the grade in Strictly’s half-term report?

We’ve reached the halfway mark of this oh-so-eventful Strictly season, and although a few celebrities have started to separate themselves from the chasing pack, it’s still too close to call – especially with some, like Sara Davies, yo-yoing up and down the leaderboard every week.

So, it’s time to put our remaining contestants under the spotlight with a half-term report. Who are the class swots and which celebs must do better? And who looks like this year’s glitterball-lifting champion?

AJ Odudu – The leggy wonder

The chatterbox presenter was one of the lesser-known names coming into Strictly and looked at a disadvantage next to the Olympic athletes and trained performers. However, Odudu has astonishing natural talent: judge Craig Revel Horwood has said she could be a professional dancer now if she’d started young. Her partner, Kai Widdrington, is a formidable new addition to the professional roster, and their sizzling chemistry has sparked rumours of a “showmance”.

The pair came storming into the competition with their lightning-fast jive, Odudu mastering the all-important retraction in her kicks (snapping the foot back into the body as quickly as possible). She then scored her first 10 with a smouldering Argentine tango. Their lifts look so elegant because she uses her core strength to maintain her positions in the air.

Her Medusa-themed Viennese waltz on Hallowe'en nabbed another 10, thanks to her combination of a serene ballroom frame with hard-working legs and feet, meaning she travels round the floor without showing the effort. And she’s becoming a persuasive actress, too: Meryl Streep meets Cyd Charisse.

However, those long, long legs aren’t such an asset in Latin, which is always harder for tall people. You need to work into the floor to get the hip action, and there’s less time to control your neverending limbs. Odudu got badly tangled up in her samba. That’s something she’ll need to fix for upcoming dances like the rumba and salsa.

Best dance: Viennese waltz (37)

Worst dance: Samba (28)

Verdict: A – battling for the final.

Dan Walker – The lanky learner

The BBC Breakfast presenter came on Strictly to face his dancing demons. For years, the 6ft 6in Walker had studiously avoided showing off his moves lest he be mocked – or take someone’s eye out. So it’s been heart-warming to see him gradually grow in confidence and discover that dancing is for everyone.

He’s our only remaining contestant over 40, meaning we’re unlikely to see a repeat of Bill Bailey’s win for the older chaps. Though Walker shares Bailey’s work ethic, he’s nowhere near as musical – he plants his limbs more or less where he’s been told to rather than expressing the music through his body. But he’s become an entertaining performer, if a divisive one. I wasn’t a fan of his flat-footed jiving lobster, gladiator paso doble or MC Hammer cha cha cha; in each case, the theme hid a multitude of sins.

His long legs should be an asset in ballroom, but he needs to get his technique right first. In his foxtrot, he was so pigeon-toed that he rolled over his feet rather than using them to drive the dance, and he needs to stretch right out with a pointed foot or shaped hand to complete his lines. But he’s had a fairly easy ride from the judges: Shirley Ballas even gave him an extra mark for recovering from his mistakes. How long will they keep him around? His current ambition is to score a 30.

Best dance: Viennese waltz (28)

Worst dance: Foxtrot (21)

Verdict: D – heading for the exit soon.

Rose Ayling-Ellis – The campaigning cutie

The EastEnders actress, our first ever deaf contestant, was eager to challenge misconceptions about deaf people being able to dance and to encourage better accessibility. Well, she’s certainly done that, with online searches for sign language shooting up after people watched Ayling-Ellis using BSL on the show and even incorporating it into a dance. I hope to see more of that in her Couple’s Choice.

But nor has anyone had to condescend to Ayling-Ellis: she’s a genuinely exciting competitor. She can’t hear the songs yet she has better timing than many who can, thanks to her matching each movement to counts and feeling the music through Giovanni Pernice’s body when they’re in hold – a beautiful encapsulation of a dance partnership.

It means they actually move as one in ballroom, with Ayling-Ellis maintaining exquisite posture so that they’re always connected, and Pernice has also started to draw more on her acting skills. They picked up a 10 for their Viennese waltz, which combined elegance with a soap operatic spat that made Shirley Ballas think of her past stormy marriages, and their icy tango got the season’s first perfect score, with Revel Horwood asking for the sign for “You smashed it.”

Ayling-Ellis has also produced sparky, engaging performances in Latin but is less technically assured. She needs to take smaller steps and pitch her body weight forward, which would help her to work off her partner and give her time to fit everything in. This weekend’s samba will be a big test.

Best dance: Tango (40)

Worst dance: Jive (22)

Verdict: A – a serious contender for the trophy.

Tom Fletcher – The smooth mover

We’ve seen plenty of pop stars do well on Strictly, including Fletcher’s own McFly bandmate Harry Judd, who won in 2011. No pressure. Fletcher was heavily fancied at the start of the season, thanks to his Sylvia Young training and general ease in front of big crowds, and he definitely brings both stage presence and musicality to the dance floor.

However, experience can sometimes get in the way, too. Fletcher is clearly used to performing on his own and looks much more comfortable in the solo sections than in hold. And his nonchalant presentation doesn’t always pay off. His jive had rock ’n’ roll cool but lacked sharpness, his salsa was exciting but uncontrolled, and his Fred and Ginger-styled foxtrot had fluidity but didn’t travel. He needs to drive from the standing leg in ballroom: so put his weight fully onto one leg, flex it, and use that to drive the other leg through and create a huge step.

Fletcher also had the unexpected disruption of a positive Covid test early on, which meant he had to miss a week. He’s been playing catch-up since and still has a way to go if he wants to challenge the leaders. His posture is poor for this stage of the competition, which led to last week’s tango looking sloppy, as the judges pointed out – you can’t get that sharp staccato if the frame is wobbling around. Can he find more power and precision for this weekend’s paso doble?

Best dance: Salsa (34)

Worst dance: Cha cha cha (21)

Verdict: B – should last until Musicals Week.

Adam Peaty – The buff bod

I’m sure Peaty wouldn’t mind that description: he’s become very, very comfortable with flaunting his physique on the show. We all expected the Olympic swimming champ to have a strong competitive mentality and commit to a daunting training schedule, but it’s been more of a surprise watching him lobby for a guest starring role in Magic Mike Live.

Paired with the creative, risk-taking pro Katya Jones, his performances are always memorable – but not always for the right reasons. His Latin numbers are all about sex appeal, with Peaty poured into tight costumes and given plenty of gyrating and crotch-thrusting to do, but rather less actual dance technique. He tends to swivel his hips on their own, rather than finding the motion through the correct foot and leg action, which should then travel up to the hips. Mind, it seems to distract the judges: Revel Horwood confessed he couldn’t keep his eyes off Peaty’s cha cha cha. So to speak.

Similarly, their Argentine tango was more about perilous lifts than intricate communication through the footwork. But that high-impact tactic sometimes falters. His Avatar rumba was jerky and disjointed, his quickstep was wild and panicked, and his Viennese waltz, which landed him in the dance-off, had bumpy rise and fall when it should be all on one level. Without conquering those ballroom fundamentals, Peaty has no way of improving – other than losing another layer of clothing.

Best dance: Argentine tango (32)

Worst dance: Quickstep (19)

Verdict: C – needs to find another gear.

Sara Davies – The ballroom babe

We’ve never seen a Strictly journey quite as extreme as this. The Dragon’s Den panellist and entrepreneur looked like a goner after her lacklustre Week 1 cha cha cha, but she came roaring back with a fab-u-lous foxtrot that had Anton Du Beke begging to dance with her. That set the pattern: ballroom dances see Davies shoot up the leaderboard, Latin styles bring her back down.

Even so, she has improved on the latter. Her Shrek samba was stompy but rhythmic and she sold it well (I suppose that is her forte), and her rumba had plenty of Latin content, tidy footwork and lovely expression through her arms – if not enough passion. Partner Aljaž Skorjanec has clearly worked hard with her on all the basic steps and technique, and she’s a very diligent student.

Still, it’s nowhere near her pristine ballroom. Her tango was a triumph of detail, from the perfectly placed feet to the excellent posture and frame, allowing her to hit all of the crisp musical accents while maintaining a sophisticated style. She just needs to sort out her head position – it’s currently too far to the left, and it strains her shoulder.

The public are clearly enjoying her roller coaster run: they’ve rescued her from that bottom two position twice now. Can she bounce back from her disastrous Game of Thrones-themed Couple’s Choice routine? She should be in much safer territory this weekend with a Dolly Parton quickstep. But she can’t keep relying on voters to save her on the off-weeks.

Best dance: Tango (36)

Worst dance: Cha cha cha (17)

Verdict: B – inconsistent but still compelling.

Rhys Stephenson – The bouncy boy

The one thing this CBBC presenter does not lack is energy. He’s the Tigger of this year’s line-up: every time he gets to do a leap, he springs up to the ceiling like a possessed pogo stick. That worked well in his Spider-Man Couple’s Choice, where he could embrace the freestyle movement and propulsive tricks – and it scored him this season’s first 10. But he’s yet to successfully channel his dynamism into the traditional Strictly dances.

Stephenson’s potential was clear from the launch show, and he began decently with an assured Viennese waltz – albeit one in which his feet were sickled, a perennial problem (his toes are turned in, rather than having his feet parallel for ballroom or turning out for Latin). He’s also so keen to do the next step that he rushes ahead of the beat, like a child eager to tell you the answer but stumbling over their words. It divorces the movement from the music and from the storytelling intention. All his dances look the same; his paso doble could have been Spider-Man 2.

Unfortunately, his pro partner Nancy Xu abets his frantic performance with her busy routines. Their salsa was so jam-packed that there was no time for Stephenson to find the correct footwork or hip action. At least he can enjoy the speed of this weekend’s quickstep, but I fear he’ll be zipping into the dance-off again soon.

Best dance: Couple’s Choice (37)

Worst dance: Viennese waltz (27)

Verdict: C – yet to embrace the actual ballroom dances.

Tilly Ramsay – The unlikely chameleon

I must confess that I had low expectations for Ramsay. Surely she was just “daughter of Gordon”, having a quick go at Strictly in between posting TikToks? And, indeed, she began with a tentative waltz that leant heavily on saccharine schmaltz and showed little commitment or personality.

But pretty much every dance since then has been a mini revelation. If Ramsay is given a clear role to play, she totally transforms. Her Charleston saw her fully embody a cheeky flapper – Ballas was shocked by how good she was – and her paso doble proved she could do strong and dramatic, not just sweet. Her Frankenstein cha cha cha was a brilliant blend of character and technique: she had great foot pressure into the floor, which gave her gorgeous Latin leg and hip action. Her solo sections also showed how confident she’s become, and likewise her recent foxtrot illustrated her vast improvement since that opening waltz.

Where can she go from here? She needs to lower into those heel leads in her ballroom to help her travel more – if you’re up on your toes, you can’t extend as far – and aim for more extreme body shapes and lines, which were lacking in her paso doble. I’d like to see her pro partner Nikita Kuzmin help her find those details and build up her performance impact; sometimes he just out-dances her instead. With a bit more work, a 10 is in her reach.

Best dance: Foxtrot (36)

Worst dance: Waltz (21)

Verdict: B – should make it to the last few.

John Whaite – The hotshot history-maker

Along with Johannes Radebe, Whaite represents our first ever all-male pairing on Strictly, and this consistently strong duo are a joy to watch. It’s often hard to tell which one is the pro – they’re so in tune, they look like they’ve been performing together for years.

Whaite might be a former Bake Off winner, so used to the pressures of televised competition, but he’s still beset with nerves. That makes it all the more impressive that his routines generally hide the work so that we can enjoy them. The prime example is his Pirates of the Caribbean paso doble, which rightly scored three 10s: it was dramatic, thrilling and showed the advantage of a powerful all-male pair spurring one another on.

They picked up another two 10s for their tasty treat of a Charleston, which featured more creative flair from Radebe (baguette-ography!) and extraordinary synchronisation. Whaite doesn’t just have great timing, he matches Radebe’s exact physical placement and performance details. Now he must find that same cohesion while in hold. Their lead-swapping is impressive, and a fun new element, but Whaite needs to maintain his frame and differentiate between those leader and follower positions – the latter is too square to Radebe.

We’ve also seen them doing a lot of side-by-side work in Latin, rather than dancing together. Are they nervous about how viewers will react? But they can’t shy away from that intimacy in this weekend’s rumba. If they commit to it fully, surely even Revel Horwood will lift his dusty 10 paddle.

Best dance: Paso doble (39)

Worst dance: American smooth (29)

Verdict: A – we’ll see him in the final.