Strictly Come Dancing got off to a flying start on Saturday night – with TV presenter AJ Odudu leading the way when it came to the highest scores of the night.
This weekend marked the return of Strictly’s live shows, with the former Big Brother’s Bit On The Side host bagging the top spot on the leaderboard for her Jive routine to DJ Fresh’s Gold Dust.
AJ – who recently won rave reviews for hosting Channel 4’s one-off revival of The Big Breakfast – and her professional partner Kai Widdrington scored 34 points from the judges, the most points for a week one routine since Zoe Ball back in 2005.
It was a big night for Kai, too, as this year marks his first time competing in Strictly.
Behind AJ and Kai on the leaderboard with 30 points were John Whaite and Johannes Radebe.
The Great British Bake Off winner and his professional partner made history as the first partnership made up of two men to hit the Strictly floor, delivering a Tango routine to Blue Monday by New Order.
John and Johannes are the second same-sex pairing to compete in Strictly, after Olympian Nicola Adams danced with Katya Jones in 2020.
The two were joint second place on the night, with Olympian Adam Peaty and his partner Katya Jones also landing a first week score of 30.
Sadly, it wasn’t quite as joyous an evening for all of the celebrities.
Dragon’s Den expert Sara Davies came in at the bottom of the leaderboard on the first live show of the series.
She and Aljaž Škorjanec landed 17 points of a possible 40 for their Cha Cha Cha, one mark behind rugby star Ugo Monye who has been paired with reigning champion Oti Mabuse.
There was no public vote on Saturday night, with all 15 of the celebrities making it through to next week’s live show, after which viewers will help determine which two stars end up in the first dance-off of the series.
Find out how the cast gets on when Strictly returns to our screens on Saturday night at 6.45pm.