He looked really lost, didn't he!

Did anyone find the show a bit lacklustre tonight? Reet Petite would have livened it right up! I agree though Ochre, I only want Laura back next week if her ankle is 100% okay to dance on.

Their Jive could have been the dance of the night, training looked that good they could have been up there with Ore and Joanne on the leaderboard.

I really felt for Gio

I agree, especially in what was quite a dull show. Could have been a real shining moment for Laura & Gio. Typical isn't it!

Her health is of course the most important thing, though.

Really did not enjoy the show at all tonight. Just all a bit meh!!

I agree that Laura and Gio's jive would have livened things up. I do hope she is okay.

its very sad for Laura and I am wishing her a good - and safe - recovery. I did feel for Gio - he looked totally professional - but none the less a bit lost. It must have been awful for both of them to be not clear whether they were trying to 'manage through' the show whilst they waited to see how the ankle shaped up.

Gio gave a very nice speech and it was lovely to see the celebs and pros all chip in to wish Laura a good recovery. No doubt AT ALL in my mind this is 110% genuine (I know there will be tin-hat conspiracists out there ). Its unfortunate. But here is hoping firstly that Laura spends 48 hours on the sofa resting and watching trash telly with the choccy bickies (or whatever) and MICK.... and that Gio and Laura have a great theme, lovely dance and good times for Halloween Strictly next week.

I also hope that the Bottom 2 is, somehow, 'as expected' so that the Grumpy Gang don't say that so-and-so departing celeb WASROBBED by Laura's ligament.

Edit: Tonights show? Yes Huph. I will see your 'meh' and double it. Apart from Anastacia and Gorka who were unexpectedly delightful. And @EdBalls.

Really frustrating, trying not to think too much of what could have been I'm supporting Daisy & Aljaz too and loved their Charleston but I really did miss Laura & Gio tonight. They are such an exciting partnership on the dancefloor, so much potential. . . I'm not doing well at the not thinking what could have been

Laura needs to do what's best for her in the long term now definitely.

OT reply to Ochre. I tried to love Daisy and Alijaz Charleston but was more in 'like' territory. Great concept well done Alijaz - first half very neat but second half Daisy ran out of puff. For a very tall lady a great attempt and her smile is a winner. Great scores. Dare I say... Lesley Joseph at 72 is fitter!

They are a very likeable dance couple and I wish them well.

Edit: I surprise myself by saying for me its Ed rather than Judge Rinder and also its Danny rather than Ore. And its Claudia rather than Louise. Funny how things start to settle down. And to me those seem to make sense for comparisons.

I enjoyed Daisy and Aljaz a lot tonight, especially the bit with the hands and feet at the beginning! I always seem to find one contestant I like and am then blind to everybody else, so tonight was bit of an eye opener as I actually paid attention to everyone else! My heart was in my mouth at the Ed/Katya lift fiasco!

Yes on the EdLiftGate #poorKatya A brave, brave woman. Or 'courageous' as Yes Minister would have put it to choreo those lifts.

Well done to Ed and Katya for their quick demo of how it was supposed to turn out before the judges scores.

He is working hard to learn the full routine and Katya is teaching him well. OK the technique is a bit ...errr....elementary but I think he is improving. Funnily enough I am not seeing Greg the Olympic athlete improving as much as Ed has.

Oh no doubt at all her injury's genuinely serious. If Laura was feeling it from the beginning of the week then the pain she must have trained through considering we know they did long sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday and then it obviously became much worse on Thursday. I suspect she would have danced had she not been sent home however painful, she loves the show so much

I'm hoping Greg doesn't go tonight or an even bigger shock elimination.

I absolutely loved that beginning! Can't remember that being done on Strictly before. I know what you mean, the previous two weeks I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Laura & Gio to dance whereas tonight, albeit feeling rather sad, I sat back and enjoyed everyone.

Ed did so well not to drop Katya And then they did the lift again! She is one brave lady, clearly trusts him.

Regarding Laura's injury - obviously, totally genuine. Just hope those people who have suddenly become orthopedic surgeons overnight don't start demanding X-Rays etc. It was a good dance for them which is also 'double' the pity of it.

Yes.. I hope for an uncontroversial elimination. If there is such a thing this year.

Had a quick look around the press today and it seems to me that Laura is getting a sympathetic response to her injury - thank goodness.

OT in the 'new Len' rumour front...

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/sc...ce-len-9106568

Carolyn Smith is Gio's old Italian competition coach and would be a super, super choice for Strictly - she is fab and a big personality.

I hope Laura is resting up this weekend.

Gio confirmed its a 'different dance' next week i.e. not jive. What dance do we think she will have?

I am going for Ballroom Tango as my guess - a slow, dramatic Tango rather than a fast and furious number.

I am also guessing that Charleston with all its swivelling will be a dance for them to skip for this series.

Hi LL

Maybe the Foxtrot or Viennese Waltz, I think Laura would dance both beautifully if her ankle is recovered enough. Guess we'll get an indication in the next couple of days as to whether she'll be able to resume training.

Looking forward to watching Gio as the tailor in the pro dance tonight

Hi Ochre. I wondered if the Tango which needs less rise and fall would be easier on a still-weak ankle than VW..... We will know soon enough. And at least Gio will choreo around it.

I am also looking forward to the pro routine tonight. Will pop back to the thread after the show.

Me too! I wrote something similar in the " Five Thoughts" thread on the Main forum.

Fingers crossed for a suitable dance to be as kind as possible to Laura's ankle this week, if indeed she has recovered enough to return.

Amen to all you say!

Giovanni looked very sad - but rightly so. It was a dance they could have really shone at and they both loved - plus, they had a great song.
What could have been...

Best wishes to Laura to recover fast enough, and for them to get a sympathetic dance and music next week.

Gio has tweeted this great pic of him with Aljaz and Kevin with the caption '3 Musketeers!! #friends'

Kevin's expression

Good picture of the three of them.

Haven't watched the results show yet as I had to pop out. I know who leaves as I checked the spoiler. Looking forward to seeing the pro dance.

Its a great photo of Gio and he is looking so much more cheerful than Friday and Saturday.

Laura has posted a Snapchat showing her out at Sunday lunch with friends (looked like a local pub type place) and I think her god-daughter, who was giving her a lovely hug earlier on Instagram. Mick was rather adorably drinking water from his own little glass. Awwww.

Glad that Laura is out with close friends - keeps everything in proportion.

Sad to see Daisy in the Bottom 2 tonight. Like Laura, I guess people thought she was safe. She looked very shaken. Poor Lesley - I enjoyed her dances with Anton very much over the past few weeks. What a woman.

Edit: Oops Huph. Thought I had ruined your viewing there. Glad you had checked the spoiler.

I really enjoyed the pro dance Huph, Gio is great in it

Lovely to see Gio looking happy there LL, he's got good friends in Aljaz and Kevin and it's nice to hear Laura was with close friends today too. I see the celebs and pros were straight in to Halloween rehearsals today so Laura's had to miss out on that . . . but there are more important priorities and life outside the Strictly bubble goes on very happily

Hugely relieved Daisy's through and so impressed with her dance off performance, sorry to see Lesley go before Halloween though. Amazing lady.

For anyone who likes pictures of injured ankles Laura has posted an Instagram story picture of her ankle. She has about 8-10 pieces of strapping running in a criss cross from the top of her calf to the bottom of her foot. All the strapping is to the inner side of the calf/foot (if that makes sense). Clearly a medic/physio who has taped that up for support.

I remember the good old days of stretchy bandages that cut off the circulation nicely

Dress watch: The support tape is an attractive shade of pumpkin orange. So ideal for Hallowe'en.

Ah the sprain does sound very serious, just not going to get better if Laura tries to keep up the dance training unfortunately.

Wonder how early in the week they'll make a definite decision.

Don't want to be pessimistic but if the injury needs a few weeks to heal then maybe Laura and Gio could return to do their Jive in a later show or the final, like Jade Johnson and Ian Waite did with their Tango some years back. But still keeping everything crossed that she'll be able to take part for Hallowe'en (ironically I will be in Sicily!)

Enjoyed the show tonight but very surprised that Daisy & Aljaz were in bottom two, very undeserved and probably a case of people thinking they were safe. Greg had a big let off I think.

I think it depends on the dance.

I was pondering this. I think, even if it was pretty hopeless, Laura would choose to be part of Halloween and just do a fairly ridiculous piece of choreo that worked around her limitations, accepting that Bottom 2 was a very likely outcome.

She is very professional and loves the show. She would, I think, rather that the show and its eliminations continued to schedule than pull out and cause a problem.

I mean, this is the worst case, but they really, really could stick her on a wire for 70 seconds and just have Gio spinning madly for the final 20. Or Gio could just stick 17 illegal lifts into a Rumba so her feet never touched the floor. And claim with a straight face that he was being 'contemporary'. There are lots of options that might conceivably buy a week - or at least be an honorable exit.

With totally over the top hair and makeup., you could certainly make a dance of a sort and aim to be flashy and entertaining but not try to be technically correct. Its a better way to go out than a 'sick note resignation'.

Better to leave the show like that, with a feeling of good will and a sense that the public would liked to have seen a bit more from her.

If Gio was smart... he would ask for a bit of choreo help from Neil Jones or someone this week. I am not sure that Gio totally 'gets' how to choreo camp/over the top stuff - its all a bit quirky and British. If they are working around an injury, there is no need just to look safe, gentle and dull. Stick Laura in a coffin with a champagne glass like Nancy Dell'Olio! And make the coffin fly - why not. With Mick in a witches hat.

Edit: Ooh Sicily MissDaisy. Lovely.

Second Edit: Neil Jones seems... enthusiastic about Laura And he certainly knows how to put together OTT choreo.