Strictly Come Dancing’s second live show of the series hit BBC One on Saturday evening, with the 15 couples set face the first public vote of the series.
And judge Shirley Ballas struggled to hold back tears as she praised Paralympian Ellie Simmonds’ emotional performance.
The athlete, 27, danced a gorgeous waltz with her partner Nikita Kuzmin and received a standing ovation from the studio audience.
Tears: Strictly’s Shirley Ballas wiped away tears as she praised Paralympian Ellie Simmonds’ ’emotional’ waltz on Saturday
Shirley, 62, then admitted she was becoming emotional as she thanked Ellie, who suffers from dwarfism, for proving ‘we can all do what we love’.
She said: ‘There is so much magic, in something so simple and that’s what you delivered today’.
However Shirley then choked back tears admitting: ‘I’m getting emotional now’.
Ellie too appeared tearful as the camera cut to show her mother watching proudly in the audience.
Dancer: The athlete, 27, danced with her partner Nikita Kuzmin and received a standing ovation from the studio audience
Amazing: Shirley then admitted she was becoming emotional as she thanked Ellie, who suffers from dwarfism, for proving ‘we can all do what we love’
Shirley went on to offer Ellie constructive criticism before complimenting Nikita on his choreography that was set to rendition of Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley.
She then said: ‘You show people that we can all do what we love’.
The dance earned the duo a score of 30, beating out Will Mellor and Nancy Xu’s 26 as well as James Bye and Amy Dowden’s 24.
Gorgeous: Shirley went on to offer Ellie constructive criticism before complimenting Nikita on his choreography that was set to rendition of Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley
And topping the leaderboard so far was Radio 2 DJ Richie Anderson and pro partner Giovanni Pernice – who took to the dancefloor with a Quickstep dance, which was dubbed ‘absolutely beautiful’ by judge Motsi Mabuse.
The pair put on a united front during the show and appeared to brush off recent rumours of a fued behind the scenes – following reports that they ‘haven’t clicked’ off camera.
As the pair donned matching sequinned suits for the visually pleasing dance, the performance was dubbed ‘absolutely beautiful’ by Motsi – as Shirley got up onto her feet.
Proud:” Ellie too appeared tearful as she listened to the judge’s comments
Pride: The camera cut to show her mother watching proudly in the audience
The head judge explained: ‘I wasn’t quite expecting it to be so syncornized and so good, today you were laser focused – you did amazing. What a transformation!’
‘You’re a real showman, I loved it. If you could put that sequin jacket back in my room I’d be absolutely delighted,’ jested Anton.
And discussing the dance backstage following the performance, Richie explained: ‘This dance required a lot of good posture. And look at me, I’ve got the posture of Mr. Bean.’
Continuing: ‘Thank you for being so patient,’ as he turned towards Giovanni.
Impressed: The dance earned the duo a score of 30, beating out Will Mellor and Nancy Xu’s 26 as well as James Bye and Amy Dowden’s 24
Quickstep: Topping the leaderboard so far was Radio 2 DJ Richie Anderson and pro partner Giovanni Pernice – who took to the dancefloor with a Quickstep dance
The pair managed to bag 32 out of 40 points, over ten points above their debut performance the week before.
And their display of support comes after the partners have been plagued by rumours of a fued off of the camera, with sources telling The Sun that professional dancer Giovanni was becoming frustrated with Richie not listening to him in rehearsals.
One insider said: ‘The pair haven’t clicked. Richie is so swept up by the whole experience that he is talking 100 words a minute, and it can be hard for Giovanni.
Good scores: The pair managed to bag 32 out of 40 points, over ten points above their debut performance the week before
‘He has told pals that Richie talks instead of listening during training, and it is frustrating.’
They then added that it was early days and they were still getting used to each other: ‘Giovanni thinks Richie has real potential in the competition.’
However, a source close to the pair told MailOnline: ‘Talk of them not getting on is nonsense. They are having such a laugh and were thrilled at the reaction on Saturday night.’
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