Faye Tozer's cheeky Charleston gets top marks from judges on Strictly Come Dancing

The former Steps star - who lives in Boldon - appeared in the quarter-finals of the BBC1 hit show.

This week had a musical theme and the singer embarked on a Sound of Music inspired routine.

Dressed in lederhosen, Faye and her partner Giovanni Pernice, performed an energetic Charleston to The Lonely Goatherd, while appearing as puppets surrounded by goats.

Their set included a number of complicated lifts which amazed the judges so much they received their highest score of the series - a perfect 40.

Judge Bruno Tonioli said: "Everyone was on their feet. That was the ultimate crowd-please, show-stopping delight. It was so original."

Craig Revel-Horwood kept his cards close to his chest by simply saying: "I thought the goats were good and you weren't bad either."

Shirley Ballas was rendered speechless by the performance.

She declared: "You are a pure diamond, there's not a flaw in anything you do. I don;t know what else to say."

Darcey Bussell said: "It was extraordinary, there was a move to every beat, I don't know how you stayed in synch.

"It was a stunning, to perfection."

Earlier in the day Faye took to Twitter to tell fans how thrilled she is to still be in the competition.

She tweeted: "It’s quarter finals tonight on @bbcstrictly I can’t thank you enough for your support and messages over these last 11 weeks. It’s truly been unexpected and incredible!

"I’m gonna dance my little socks off tonight. Hope you enjoy it!!! Yodelay-hee-hoo!!!"