With Bruno Tonioli absent from this weekend’s Strictly Come Dancing, his co-judge Craig Revel Horwood decided to bring his own Italian spice to the show.

As he prepared to give feedback to Debbie McGee and professional partner Giovanni Pernice, Revel Horwood said he would “channel Bruno” before jumping to his feet and shouting in a faux-Italian accent “Giovanni darling, you were sensational”.

To offer an even more convincing performance, the choreographer fell off his chair – a frequent occurrence for Tonioli when he is at his most excited.

The convincing impersonation went down well with fans, as well as McGee, as the usual tough-talking Revel Horwood handed the pair a nine.

They also scored nine apiece from Darcey Bussell and Shirley Ballas with a total of 27 for the Rumba to Tracy Chapman’s Baby Can I Hold You.

On Twitter, viewers were pretty convinced by Revel Horwood’s impersonation with Michael Byrne saying he had “out Brunoed Bruno”

Alan Durbidge dubbed it the “best Strictly moment ever”.

Olivia Ackles tweeted: “Craig as bruno was the best thing ive ever seen.”

And Janine wrote: “Craig’s impression of Bruno is the highlight of the evening.”

Tonioli is not appearing on the programme this weekend due to his busy work schedule, the BBC has said.