'I can smell the fish and chips...'

Ellie Taylor has her sights on Strictly's Blackpool show after wowing judges

Ellie Taylor has ended up in sixth place on the leaderboard in week eight of Strictly Come Dancing.

She and dance partner Johannes Radebe were one of three couples to scored 31 from judges last night.

It places her, Tyler West and Kym Mash, all jointly one place up from perpetually bottom placed Tony Adams, who is being kept in the competition by the votes of an army of Arsenal fans.

Taylor and Radebe danced the charleston to Friendship from the musical Anything Goes, earning a standing ovation from Shirley Ballas.

‘I thought it was synchronised… you both looked like you had an absolute ball,’ she said. ‘Definitely, definitely on a roll.’

Motsi Mabusi said: ‘I just feel like you owned it. There was no questioning yourself. Your presence was felt. Well done.’

Anton Du Beke told Taylor she ‘could be a musical theatre star’ and even bad-guy judge Craig Revel Horwood said she coped with difficult rhythm patterns in the dance.

It is a major turnaround after Taylor was monstered by some of the judges last week, prompting her to suggest that the competition element should be scrapped.

Appearing on Jonathan Ross’s ITV show last night, she said: ‘No one wants to get criticism anyway do they… I’ve suggested to producers we get rid of the judges, get rid of the eliminations, we all just learn to dance and after 13 weeks we get a certificate.’

And she added: ‘I’m absolutely astounded that I’m still in in week 8 and I can almost see Blackpool, which is obviously a massive thing in the Strictly calendar. I can smell the fish and chips.’

The Blackpool episode is next week – all she has to do is survive the results programme airing tonight.