Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell vowed to wear Bruno Tonioli’s speedos if Alexandra Burke failed to reach the show’s final.

The singer and her dance partner Gorka Marquez scored their first 40 as they performed a salsa to Cece Peniston’s Finally and finished top of the semi-final leaderboard.

The routine was labelled “absolutely fabulous” by judge Craig Revel Horwood, while Bussell offered some more abstract feedback.

She told the former X Factor singer she wanted to be invited to the couple’s private disco before adding: “If you are not in the final I’m going to get into his (Bruno’s) speedos.”

Not to be outdone, Tonioli responded after Debbie McGee’s performance, telling her: “If you don’t get to the final I will judge in (Bussell’s) tutu, no knickers and a tiara.”

Viewers took to social media to joke about Bussell’s promise, although one fan thought the comment may have backfired because they now wanted to see if Bussell kept her promise.

@NicolaJSwinney posted on Twitter: “Nobody’s going to vote for Alexandra now because they want to see Darcey in Bruno’s Speedos. *faints*.”

@DaPointlessCat wrote: “And now, a word that I never ever knew Darcey Bussell would say. Speedos.”

@Ajrjacksonart tweeted: “Darcey Bussell in Speedos? Guess who I’m not voting for this week.”

@John_Eldon posted: “Blimey!!! Get voting people… Darcey’s lovely but Bruno’s speedos may be a challenge even for her.”

The praise came after a tough seven days for Burke who finished in the bottom two last week despite topping the leaderboard, having failed to secure enough votes from viewers.

She was saved by the judges over Davood Ghadami in the dance off, but the star has spoken out about her hurt over being portrayed in a certain way in recent weeks and comments from trolls online.