On Tuesday night, the Illawarra father and his partner Masha Belash danced the tango to One Republic’s hit Love Runs Out and received a score of 32 out of 40 from the judging panel.

Judge Todd McKenney described the routine as ‘‘sexy beyond belief’’ while Adam Garcia compared the pair to a romance novel.

‘‘You were like a living Mills and Boon cover,’’ he said.

‘‘I’ve said from the outset you can dance and you’ve shown that again tonight.’’

Fellow judges Helen Richey and Kym Johnson agreed the dance was sexy with Richey saying the performance was ‘‘perfectly put together.’’

The judges each scored Matt eight points, putting him in a tie for third place with Home & Away  star Lynne McGranger.

It was a night of high drama on the show with contestant Mark Holden displaying some bizarre behaviour while dressed as a creepy clown.

Judge Kym Johnson described the act as ‘‘really scary’’ and said it was a ‘‘disaster on the dancefloor’’.

Meantime, top contender Kyly Clark was forced to pull out of the competition with a serious hamstring injury.

Dancing with the Stars airs on Tuesday at 7.30pm on Seven.