The former magician’s assistant has wowed the judges throughout the BBC competition during this year’s series, but tonight’s instalment saw the star go one step further with a passionate American Smooth. 

Fully-clad in costumes emulating Cats from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical of the same name, the 59-year-old and professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice glided across the ballroom to a powerful rendition of classic Memory. 

As the performance came to a close, Queen of Latin Shirley, 57, was so impressed that she rose from her seat at the panel to give Debbie McGee a rousing round of applause. 

Noticing the display of praise, presenter Tess Daly told the nervous star: “Shirley’s giving you a standing ovation, as well as the audience.”

The judge went on to say that she was “hugely impressed” by the dance, as she gushed: “I think it’s going to be a memory etched in everybody’s hearts for a long long time - it was just beautiful. It was intimate, it was polished, I felt every moment with you.”

Despite the incredible result, which earned Debbie a whopping 39 points - joint first on the leaderboard with Alexandra Burke - the contestant revealed it hadn’t all been plain sailing in her VT during training. 

As Sicilian Giovanni, 27, could be seen repeatedly telling off his protégé during their gruelling regime, it eventually seemed she’d had enough. 

Speaking directly to the camera, Debbie admitted: “Yet again we’ve got the Giovanni lifts where he thinks I’m a 20-year-old not a 59-year-old.”

Meanwhile, the series’ latest addition to the judging team inadvertently snubbed contestant Gemma Atkinson on her vocation after she called her “acting skills” into question. 

The Emmerdale star had performed a lively Quickstep to the musical Hello Dolly! with her partner Aljaž Škorjanec.

She confessed: “I just felt it could have had a little bit of 20 per cent more in the acting skills.”(sic)

Strictly Come Dancing continues tomorrow at 7.20pm on BBC One.