Footballer Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu have topped the leaderboard in the first proper episode of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The episode also saw Thomas Skinner perform an “unsexy” paso doble, and sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey fight back tears after his performance.
In a shock move, head judge Shirley Ballas also announced a major change to how each Sunday results show will end.
When it came to performances, Carney sent the night out on a high, performing a jive to Blondie’s “One Way or Another”. The judges were impressed, with Ballas saying “it was just sensational” and “the best dance of the night for me”.
The pair received a total of 31 points overall.
Coming up behind them were actor Lewis Cope and dancer Katya Jones with 28 points. Former footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his partner Lauren Oakley and actor and former Love Island contestant Amber Davies and dancer Nikita Kuzmin both tied third, with 27 points.
Hasselbaink’s quickstep was a hit, with judge Anton Du Beke saying he “moved wonderfully”. Davies, meanwhile, had only 24 hours to prepare for her viennese waltz, having stepped in at the last minute to replace an injured Dani Dyer. But lack of time wasn’t an issue for her, as she received raves from the judges. “Darling, you are naturally blessed with the neck of a flamingo,” judge Craig Revel-Horwood said. “Long, elegant lines which you can’t buy.”
YouTuber George Clarke and his partner Alexis Warr were embraced by the judges. Their American Smooth garnered 24 points, with Ballas predicting “this is going to be a dynamic partnership”.
Clarke and Warr tied with drag queen La Voix and dancer Aljaž Škorjanec, who performed an American Smooth. “I felt like you needed to follow Aljaz’s lead just a little more,” Revel-Horwood said. “But you took that to a whole new level of camp – I loved it.”
Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison admitted to being very anxious before she performed with partner Kai Widdrington, but their cha-cha-cha proved successful – they were awarded 23 points. “It lacked a little bit of hip action and connection,” Revel-Horwood said. “But you have nothing to be nervous about.”
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Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis and his partner Dianne Buswell came away from the night with 22 points. “I’m impressed!” judge Motsi Mabuse exclaimed. “I think we have a ballroom king on the way.”
Below them, with 21 points, were actor Alex Kingston and her partner Johannes Radebe. Their Viennese waltz received soft praise, but Mabuse said that Kingston moved “like a slick fox”.
Former sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey danced the cha-cha-cha with partner Karen Hauer, and was awarded 19 points. It proved controversial, however, with a moment in which Hauer stood on Aikines-Aryeetey’s back while he did push-ups drawing ire from Revel-Horwood. “Push-ups, darling, are not in the cha cha cha,” he said.
Model and actor Ellie Goldstein, partnered with Vito Coppola, was awarded 17 points for her cha-cha-cha. “We could work on [your] feet but your timing was exquisite,” said Du Beke. Goldstein and Coppola tied at 17 with EastEnders actor Balvinder Sopal, who is partnered with Strictly newcomer Julian Caillon. “From the waist up, excellent,” Du Beke said of Sopal’s samba. “Under the water line, we have one or two issues.”
Thomas Skinner and Amy Dowden earned 16 points for their paso doble, with Revel-Horwood saying it was “square, flat and stompy”. Similarly negative comments were made about rugby player Chris Robshaw, whose samba with dancer Nadiya Bychkova earned just 14 points. Revel-Horwood didn’t mince words, saying: “It lacked any fluidity, it lacked any hip action. Your arms need sorting out and your hands. I thought the whole thing was heavy and stiff.”
At the bottom of the leaderboard was gossip reporter Ross King, whose dance with Jowita Przystał garnered just 10 points. Revel-Horwood succinctly commented: “Don’t come back with the same dance darling, that’s all I can say.”
No one will leave the show this weekend, with judges’ votes carried over to next week’s show.
Strictly returns on Saturday 4 October, airing at 6.20pm on BBC One.
