Strictly’s Dianne Buswell puts on a bold display as she joins Max George and Karen Hauer in arriving at rehearsals following first live show
Saturday night saw the dancefloor light up for Strictly’s first live show.
And the stars of the show – both celebrities and pros – were putting in the hours to make sure the dance floor was lit again, as they arrived at rehearsals on Wednesday.
Leading the way was Dianne Buswell, who was putting on a bold display with her trademark cherry red tresses while she was joined by her dance partner Max George, fellow pro Karen Hauer and a host of other stars.
Ready to dance: Strictly stars – both celebrities and pros – were putting in the hours to make sure the dance floor was lit again, as they arrived at rehearsals on Wednesday (Dianne Busswell pictured)
The first live episode of Strictly Come Dancing saw a peak audience of 10.1 million on Saturday, as viewers flocked to tune into the family favourite.
The show raked in a total of 1.6million more viewers than 2019, suggesting that the familiar format is a comfort to many amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The BBCs show’s ratings tally make it the second most-watched entertainment programme of the year, behind Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
Saturday’s episode saw Judges Shirley Ballas, 60, Craig Revel Horwood, 55, and Motsi Mobuse, 39, all return to the judging panel, while Tess Daly, 51, and Claudia Winkleman, 48, hosted.
Heading in: Dianne’s partner Max George was hot on her heels in his sports gear
Heading in: Karen Hauer was not far behind before the rehearsal
Nicola Adams and Katya Jones left fans in tears as they made history as the first ever same-sex couple to perform on the show, while HRVY and Janette Manrara came top of the leaderboard.
The boxer, 37, and the dancer, 31, were praised as ‘dynamite’ and a ‘fantastic partnership’ after they performed the Quickstep to Get Happy by Ella Fitzgerald, and the performance earned them a score of 21 which saw them come in third place.
Motsi Mabuse went on: ‘I have to say I was very curious how it was going to happen, how it was going to work out.
Ready for action! Show veteran Anton du Beke made his way in
‘Nicola I can see you have a strong core, you need to work on it to make sure its more stable, that being said oh my goodness, you rocked it!’
While Craig Revel-Horwood added: ‘Well they proved its absolute dynamite, I absolutely adored that routine… small little things [to improve] but what a fantastic partnership.’
Fans were gushing over the historic performance, as they took to Twitter to say they were ‘in tears’ while many said they were picking the pair as their winners.
Here we go! After a mildly lacklustre debut, Jamie Laing did not look disheartened
A particularly emotional viewer said: ‘Katya looks amazing!! Her and Nicola have done an amazing job I’m crying watching this, knew I would. I love this pairing, I love this so much.’
This year’s couples have formed their own separate ‘bubbles’ to allow them to train and perform, and are being regularly tested to avoid a virus outbreak during filming.
The show will continue to have a live audience, though members of the public will be seated in their separate households or ‘bubbles’ and will wear a mask throughout filming.
Off we go: Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was preparing to dazzle