Shirley Ballas has said any of the remaining Strictly Come Dancing celebrities could reach the final.

The head judge believes the stars have been even more focused this year because of the pandemic.

“People have been in bubbles so they’re concentrating 24/7,” the 60-year-0ld told BBC Breakfast.

“They’re not with their spouses, so it’s dance, dance, dance, dance, dance. That’s all they’re focused on.

“And the level … is so high, it’s making it extremely difficult to send anybody home.

“It gets very emotional behind that desk because we just don’t want people to go home.

“But there have been some standout performances.

“Ranvir (Singh) with Giovanni (Pernice) this week and their Argentine tango was amazing,” Ballas said.

“I can’t even have words for Bill Bailey. I don’t even know where to start with him at 55 years of age.

“He is the one that studies each of the dances, the origin, where it came from and how it got famous.”

She also praised Jamie Laing, who went “from being in the bottom two to be at the top of the leaderboard”.

“HRVY, Maisie (Smith) saved for a couple of weeks now, who is also an amazing dancer and could go on to be in the final.

“Who knows, it could be anybody’s at the moment,” she said.

– Caroline Quentin was axed from the BBC One celebrity dancing competition on Sunday after losing in the dance-off to EastEnders star Smith.