Revealed! The two dances comedian Chris Ramsey will face in Strictly Come Dancing's semi-final

The 33-year-old, from South Shields, will compete against presenter Karim Zeroual and actors Emma Barton and Kelvin Fletcher in this weekend’s semi-final showdown, where each contestant will take on two dances for the first time.

The Strictly camp confirmed the big routines on Tuesday with comedian Chris expected to perform two serious numbers; the Rumba and the Viennese Waltz.

He, and professional partner Karen Hauer, will dance to Don’t Watch Me Cry by Jorja Smith and Queen’s Somebody to Love.

The dad-of-one has come on leaps and bounds since the competition’s start in August,surprising everyone (but not us!) with his success in making it through to the show’s 12th week.

He has repeatedly thanked the public, especially in the North East, for their constant support – but the musical special on Saturday, November 30 saw Chris and Karen land in the bottom two for the first time.

They performed against Ex-Lioness Alex Scott and professional Neil Jones, who were ultimately sent home.

Their Oliver-inspired Foxtrot scored 28 points with the judges.

It was a very close call with just one point between the two couples – and their dance-off performances left the judges spilt on who to save.

In the end, Chris and Karen were saved by head judge Shirley Ballas after both Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse named Alex and Neil as the couple they wanted to save.

Shirley, who had the final deciding vote, said: "This is a very, very difficult decision.

“Both couples danced extremely well and, for me, it's going to go personal taste, and I'm going to go with the couple that I felt had the most content and more powerfully entertaining, and therefore I am saving Chris and Karen."

*The Shields Gazette is backing Chris and Karen to take home the Strictly glitterball trophy, with just one show standing between them and the final. We would love to see your messages and pictures of support for the couple, so get in touch on social media using #VoteChris and #TeamChrisRamsey.