THE stakes were high in week nine of Strictly Come Dancing as the dancers headed to a world-famous dance venue.

The couples all had a lot to prove as they took to the landmark Tower Ballroom in Blackpool, to perform live to the audience and viewers at home.

And Whitchurch's own, AJ Pritchard, and celebrity dance partner, 19-year-old Saffron Barker, had even more to live up to after they topped last week's leaderboard with an amazing 39 points for their Waltz.

This week, dressed in 1920's style outfits, the pair danced the Quickstep to Noel Coward's classic song I went to a Marvellous Party, which added to their Great Gatsby-esque performance.

Shirley Ballas kicked off the judges' comments by telling the duo that they had put the 'quick in Quickstep', but she also noted that there were a few minor errors in their dance.

"Just a little bit off with AJ – but overall, a 'quickedy' Quickstep that will get you a good score, so congratulations," she added.

"It captured the spirit and feel of the Jazz age," added Bruno Tonioli. "Okay – there were a couple of not so in-sync moments, but overall it was brilliant."

Craig Revel-Horwood picked up on the same small errors that the other judge's had spotted but still loved the couple's performance.

"Some small timing mishaps but I thought it was absolutely fantastic," said Craig. "I loved that routine, I really did."

And Motsi, who has praised the pair from day one, added: "That dance made me love you even more, I feel you're fearless.

"You both have energy and you've worked on everything we've asked you to work on. You've cleaned it up.

"I really loved that."

The pair managed to grab a score of 35, not as high as last week's 39 but surely enough to help them make it through another week of the competition?

Not quite, as the couple ended up in the bottom two, where they battled it out in the 'dance-off' against Drag Race star Michelle Visage and professional dancer Giovanni Pernice.

Fortunately AJ and Saffron came out on top with a unanimous vote from the judges to save them, so their Strictly journey will continue for another week.