Strictly Come Dancing returned to TV screens with a bang last night after the start date was pushed back out of respect for the Queen’s funeral.
Although the launch show aired on Friday September 23, where each celebrity found out who they would be dancing with, the first of the live shows kicked off on Saturday September 24.
Hosted by Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, it is the first time in three years the BBC dance show has had a full live audience since the Covid pandemic.
The show is filmed at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, which has space for 750 spectators.
Fans were also thrilled to hear the show will be returning to the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom for a very special episode of the show, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Is Strictly Come Dancing on tonight?
As it is the first week, the BBC has confirmed there will be no Sunday night elimination show. Antiques Roadshow is on at 7pm instead.
The next episode of Strictly Come Dancing will air on Saturday October 1 at 6.30pm.
When is the first Strictly elimination?
To give all 15 of this year’s Strictly celebrities a chance there will not be an elimination during the first week.
The first elimination will take place during the first results show which airs on Sunday October 2 at 7.15pm.
Who is top of the leaderboard on Strictly?
Coronation Street and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps actor Will Mellor is currently top of the Strictly leaderboard.
The 46-year-old, who is partnered with professional dancer Nancy Xu, wowed judges with his jive to Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca.
Will was given eights and nines by the judges and ended up with a huge 34 out of 40 for his first performance.
Now fans are backing Will and Nancy to win this year’s coveted Strictly glitterball despite it only being week one.
Emotional, Will praised Nancy for her incredible teaching skills before making everyone teary as he thanked his mum and paid tribute to his late father Bill, who died in April 2020 just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.
The actor previously explained he was doing Strictly to honour his dad and because he wants to make his mum – who loves the show – proud after a “tough” few years.
Wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin and partner Jowita Przysta stunned judges with their fancy footwork in their foxtrot – and are joint top of the leaderboard with Will after also scoring 34.
CBBC star and singer Molly Rainford, who shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent when she was just 11, is in third place with partner Carlos Gu after their sexy samba scored them 31 points.
Who is bottom of the leaderboard on Strictly?
Bros singer Matt Goss and partner Nadiya Bychkova looked smooth on the dancefloor with their quickstep.
But it seems they failed to impress the judges this week as they ended up in the bottom two with a score of 20.
The celebrity with the lowest score on week one of Strictly was football star Tony Adams, who is partnered with Katya Jones.
The Arsenal legend had viewers in stitches with his football-themed tango honouring his former team to Pet Shop Boys' smash hit 'Go West'.
That song is well known by Arsenal supporters, as they chant "1-0 to the Arsenal" to it. And that wasn't the only nod to the Gunners on Saturday night. Adams started his routine by sitting on a huge golden cannon, which is the Premier League side's logo.
Strictly's live band even started signing "1-0 to the Arsenal" midway through the performance and footballs were launched on to the stage at the end.
Although fans might have loved it, Tony’s performance didn't go down well with the judges, as he received a total of 15 points – putting him bottom of the leaderboard.
The Strictly scores for week one in full
1. Will Mellor and Nancy Xu = 34
2. Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal = 34
3. Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu = 31
4. Fleur East and Vito Coppola = 29
5. Ellie Taylor and Johannes Radebe = 28
6. Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez = 26
7. Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin = 26
8. Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima = 23
9. Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer = 23
10. Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice = 23
11. Tyler West and Diane Buswell = 22
12. James Bye and Amy Dowden = 22
13. Kaye Adams and Kai Widdrington =21
14. Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova = 20
15. Tony Adams and Katya Jones = 15
*Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC1 on Saturday October 1 at 6.30pm and the first results show will air on Sunday October 2 at 7.15pm
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