Strictly: How Maisie Smith went from two weeks in the dance-off to scoring perfect 30s

19-year-old EastEnders actor has had quite the journey to the Strictly final

Maisie Smith will be donning her dancing shoes one last time this Saturday (19 December) as she competes to be named Strictly Come Dancing’s 2020 champion.

Aged just 19, the actor is the youngest of this year’s finalists and will be going up against social media star HRVY, 21, Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing, 32, and comedian Bill Bailey, 55.

Smith is no stranger to the limelight, however, having first joined EastEnders in 2008 when she was just six years old. On the soap, she plays Tiffany Butcher, whose mother is Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer).

Smith is partnered on Strictly with Gorka Márquez and has been impressing the judges with her dance skill since week one, when she scored 24 points for her Samba to Gloria Estefan’s “Conga”.

In the second week, she topped the leaderboard after scoring the first nine of the season.

Smith and Márquez perform their Little Shop of Horrors jive (BBC / Guy Levy)

However, things took a turn in week four, when Smith and Márquez found themselves in the bottom two for the first time despite scoring 24 points for their Barbie-themed routine, which was the highest marked Cha Cha Cha of the series.

Smith was saved by the judges, but then found herself in the bottom for a second consecutive week despite placing second on the leaderboard for her Salsa.

Some Strictly fans had argued that Smith was too good and cocky about her dance ability, a similar criticism given to Ashley Roberts in 2018, who landed in the bottom two three times despite scoring 32 10s during her time on Strictly.

Fortunately for Smith, the rest of the Strictly audience rallied around her, with the actor avoiding the dance-off ever since.

In the weeks after, she has only scored nines and 10s from the judges, gaining 59 out of a possible 60 points during last week’s semi-final after getting a perfect 30 for her Street/Commercial routine to “Gettin’ Jiggy With It”.

During this week’s grand final, Smith will be performing her Samba and Quickstep for a second time, while also paying homage to the festive season in her Show Dance, which will be set to “We Need a Little Christmas” by Idina Menzel. You can find the full list of dances in the Strictly final here.

Strictly Come Dancing concludes Saturday 19 December at 6pm on BBC One.