Ultimate Strictly

An update on Chris & Ola's foxtrot and Charleston training started the show, and it looks like Ola is having to do a lot of memory nudging to get Chris to remember the routines! I loved the musicality of Ola's foxtrot choreography, so if Chris can improve his technique (and there did look like some improvement in Chris's hands at least), I think this will be a good dance for them, and the Charleston is probably a bit of a no-brainer, as Ola knows the public loved it and will maximise the chance of people voting for them.

It was James Jordan's turn to tell us about his Strictly Dance Life today, with lots of old photos - wow, how orange was the fake tan then?! - and both he and Ola talked about how they first saw each other and started to dance together about six months later, and then a went on to how he got started on Strictly in series four.

Time for Ricky & Natalie's quickstep and cha cha cha training updates, and Ricky's struggling to remember the quickstep again after the break from it. They've listened to the fans and forums in deciding to go for the quickstep (which I must admit was my favourite of his ballroom dances) and staying with their most recent latin, the cha cha cha, and I really hope those pigeon toes have been sorted out by Natalie now!

The final Masterclass of the series, this week with Len recreating an iconic moment from one of the Strictly show dances of series past. I was hoping they'd maybe go for the opening lift from Mark & Karen's dance in the final of series four, but Len decided to relive "Muppet-gate" from the series three final, when Colin & Erin danced with dummies.

Some Strictly Forum Questions before it was the lindy hop training updates. Chris & Ola's faces were a picture as they watched Ricky & Natalie practising! The two couples will dance at the same time, and each will take a solo, but it looks like it will be good fun.

Finally, Mark Foster, Jodie Kidd and Mark Ramprakash joined Claudia on the red sofa. It was lovely to see some of my favourites back - Ramps looked as uncomfortable as he ever did (but at least Claudia didn't threaten to sit on his lap this time) and Jodie was as natural, warm and funny as I remember. Ramps favourite this year was Tuffers (not surprisingly), while Jodie picked Ali & Brian getting the first 50 for their American Smooth, and Mark picked Ricky & Erin's tango because Ricky bought something different to the floor and really acted every dance. Asked who they wanted to win, Ramps said Ricky was the best dancer while the other two picked Chris.

It's an hour long extravaganza tomorrow night starting at 6pm, with all the finalists in to chat to Claudia, plus the return of Natalie, Phil, Lynda and Ricky. The top two scorers on the Strictly Dance Machine Challenge, James and Brian, will be back to go head to head, and the last Friday panel will include judges Len and Bruno, plus the newest celebrity superfan, comedian and actress Miranda Hart.

Don't forget, it's an early start of 6pm for the hour long programme tomorrow night.