Strictly Come Dancing burst back onto our screens not once but twice over the weekend with the launch show swiftly followed by the first official week of the all-sparkling dance competition.
The hit BBC One show was originally due to air on Saturday, September 17 but was postponed due to schedule changes ahead of the Queen's funeral. Instead, the BBC showed the launch just a day before the first live show in which viewers discovered which celebrity had been paired with which professional dancer for the first time.
Meanwhile, Saturday's show saw actor Will Mellor and wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin place joint top of the leaderboard, both achieving an impressive score of 34 in week one. Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps star Will performed an electric jive to Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin with his partner Nancy Xu.
Judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas were so stunned by Will's hip-swirling performance that they gave him a standing ovation. In contrast, Hamza and pro partner Jowita Przystal dazzled with their beautifully joyful foxtrot to Islands In The Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers to secure their top mark.
The 20th series also features two same-sex pairings, among them reigning champion Giovanni Pernice and BBC Radio 2’s Richie Anderson who delivered an energetic cha cha cha to I’m Your Man by Wham! for their first routine.
Comedian and actor Jayde Adams and professional Karen Hauer are the show’s second female same-sex couple, following in the footsteps of Katya Jones and Olympic gold medallist boxer Nicola Adams who were paired up in 2020.
But Strictly's big return has been dealt a bit of a blow. The first show was watched by an average of 6.8 million viewers, according to overnight ratings. This was a drop in viewing figures from 2021’s first live show which was watched by an average 7.9 million.
Saturday marked the first competition night of the popular show with 15 couples battling it out on the dancefloor, which attracted a peak of 7.2 million viewers, the BBC has said. Viewing numbers were also down for the show’s launch episode on Friday which saw the celebrity contestants paired up with their professional partners.
It was watched by an average of 5.4 million viewers, with a peak audience of 5.6 million while last year’s series launch received an average of 7.0 million viewers, peaking at 7.3 million.
Meanwhile, some viewers felt like they had gone back in time as they spotted an issue with the first show of the series. While the judges gave their verdicts and scores on each performance, the public vote is yet to open but host Claudia Winkleman was on hand to reveal how it would all work as the show made a major change.
Usually, viewers are dvised to go to the BBC website to make their vote - but a new way has been created now. But with the show trying to make things easier, fans will now be able to scan a QR code on screen to make their vote and choose their favourite who they want to secure a place in the show week after week.
But it baffled loyal followers of the show. @robdn tweeted: "Using QR code is weird for voting #Strictly." @LaurenHarry commented: "Sorry, but QR codes were left in 2020. Don't encourage them to return. #Strictly." @heavenstobetsie quipped: "Scan a QR code? What is this, a covid era café? #strictly."
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