Weekly update

Well it's certainly spicing up now. Week 5 was the week that the judges got to pair the dancers off, much to the delight of some and sulkiness of others. Ashley was very excited to get paired up with Tobias , as she's been smitten with him for a while. The challenge this week was a love scene which meant each couple had to get up close and personal with a piece that included tears, an item of clothing being removed and a kiss. This caused a stir but Pamela & Simon , Tobias & Ashley and Caoife & James did a fantastic job. It even led to Tobias & Ashley kissing not once but twice in the challenge and then again in the dance off. The disco dance off this week was a challenge that saw Emma & Vincent win.  The bottom two couples were Ashley & Tobias and Hayley & Kade but relief was at hand for both couples, with no eliminations this week. The happy dancers went off to celebrate Tobias' 21st birthday and Caoife & James got very close indeed... Week 6 started with the Partner Pick - Simon & Pamela won the love scene challenge and therefore were up first in the partner pick. We gave them the option of either staying together, or if they wanted to dance with other people then they would forfeit the option of picking first and get to the back of the line to see how the partner pick unfolded. Regardless of their decision they also had to choose who picked first - boys or girls. This scenario worked really well. They chose that the boys should pick first and then agonised over what they should do re. staying together. Surprisingly they opted to get to the back of the line and see what happens... Pamela's strategy paid off - she got picked by James, her favourite. Simon got left with Haley. Ashley was annoyed to be picked by Kade, who is seen as the least favourite Johnny left in the group. Week 6 was the mambo week and the challenge - the lake lift. Everyone had a great day down at the river. All couples except Kade and Ashley managed to hold the lift. The shortest hold was Pamela & James - approx 8 seconds. The winners were Tobias & Emma who held for a whopping 42 seconds. They made it look so easy! Reality - James & Caoife. So they spent the night together after Episode 5 dance off - we have both saying in interview that they snogged but nothing else. Everyone was at the top of their game and got good comments from the judges. The bottom two couples were Kade & Ashley and Alex & Donna. All judges agreed that Kade & Ashley had gone as far as they could and it was time to leave. Ashley was an emotional wreck. Kade was dignified and thankful for the experience. It was a good departure. Choosing the winning couple was a tight one. Pamela & James and Caoife & Vincent were in another league. After a very long deliberation it was decided that Caoife & Vincent were the winners (Sean cried after their performance!). Emma and Tobias won the lake lift, so got to pick first in week 7. The previous evening’s lodge by the lake combination had a big impact on the partner pick. James had spoken to Caoife and told her he’d rather she didn’t pick her, so she had an agonizing pick which resulted in her choosing Simon. Week 7’s style was lyrical with Mandy Moore. They loved the session and showed a new side to their dancing we had yet to see, and really tested their chemistry. The melon challenge involved the 5 couples competing to see who could hold a watermelon at arms length for the longest. This simple challenge soon proved controversial as one couple (Vincent & Haley) were disqualified for breaking the rules. James and Pamela won the challenge holding the melon for over 9 minutes between them. The phone calls home provided lots of tears and drama. Having spoken to her little sister Caoife cried, and afterwards admitted that she was going to break up with her boyfriend of 4 years because of James. There were yet more tears on and off the dance floor from both dancers and judges alike. Miranda and Sean outvoted Kelly and they chose Tobias and Emma and Simon and Caoife (Kelly thought Vincent and Haley should be in bottom 2). Both couples had the exact opposite skills to those that the other needed, and in a choice over which couple to send home they chose to send home the couple who delivered an emotional connection but didn’t deliver technically – Tobias and Emma. More updates from previous episodes