Strictly Come Dancing praised for two same-sex partners including 2021 winner Giovanni

Fifteen celebs took to the dancefloor for the first time at the weekend as they launched the Strictly Come Dancing class of 22. A host of stars kicked off the BBC dance contest to take us through autumn through to December and topping the leaderboard on Saturday night was snake-hipped Will Mellor.

Snake-hipped Will Mellor has revealed his tactic to win the BBC dance show after topping the leaderboard in the first week. The Coronation Street heart-throb, who played villain Harvey Gaskell in the soap, wowed viewers and judges with his sensational moves as he wiggled his way across the dancefloor on Saturday night.

Katya Jones said she has "disconnected" from showbiz and isn't bothered about what people think about her.The 33-year-old told Tim Lovejoy that she learned "the hard way" after going from competitive dancing with ex husband Neil Jones to being in the spotlight on Strictly Come Dancing"Nobody prepares you for it," she said of first coming onto the BBC show back in 2016."Obviously I've learned the hard way from simply just doing interviews and talking to people and suddenly being on front of the press."But, I've grown so much from it and evolved so much that honestly now, it really doesn't matter.

Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan, 44, regularly shares his honest opinion about the show's dancing duos on social media.

Strictly Come Dancing favourite Anton Du Beke will join the judging panel for the series' upcoming live tour. The former Strictly professional dancer turned judge will join two of his fellow judges on the tour along with many of the celebrities and professional dancers from the current series, which launched on BBC One last week.

Strictly Come Dancing's Richie Anderson had been plagued by rumours that he "hadn't clicked" with his dance partner Giovanni Pernice, who won the Glitterball trophy last year along with Rose Ayling-Ellis. However, the 34-year-old quickly refuted the rumour with a gushing Instagram tribute thanking the Italian dance pro for his partnership.Sharing a clip from the Strictly launch show with almost 50,000 followers, Richie wrote: "A moment I'll never forget and so grateful I got to share it with @giovannipernice."He praised: "Thank you Gio for being the most amazing teacher over the past fortnight.

Strictly Come Dancing performance.Bros singer Matt performed a quickstep to Sir Duke with professional dancing partner Nadiya Bychkova as the first live episode kicked off on Saturday night (September 24).However, they failed to impress judge Anton Du Beke, who told the When Will I Be Famous singer that he would "like a better line through the body".READ NEXT: Become a fab-u-lous judge - cast your scores to our Strictly Come Dancing scoreboardWhen Matt asked "what was good", Anton told him: "Feet, timing, style, musicality," but added further criticism by saying: "Unfortunately, you looked like an unmade bed."Judge Shirley Ballas also had mixed praise for the routine, saying: "You're beautifully groomed, you've got a lot of swag and you definitely have a lot of potential."But for me, it fell a little bit apart. I'm looking for something...

Strictly Come Dancing star Richie Anderson has spoken out following claims he's not getting on with professional partner Giovanni Pernice.The 34-year-old radio presenter took to his Instagram page on Sunday to share a video of them together alongside a sweet message. Underneath the clip of them dancing the Cha Cha Cham, he penned: "A moment I'll never forget and so grateful I got to share it with Giovanni.READ MORE: Strictly slammed by fans as they share same complaint about 'awful' Neil Jones decision"Thank you Gio for being the most amazing teacher over the past fortnight.

Strictly Come Dancing recruit Jayde Adams confessed that she “cringed” when she looked back at her opening dance with her professional dancer Karen Hauer.On Sunday (September 25), the blonde bombshell took to social media where she shared her thoughts after performing a stellar samba to Christina Aguilera’s hit song Dirty.The 37-year-old comic took to the stage in a sparkly black and silver dress as she danced the night away where she impressed both the viewers and the star-studded judging panel.READ MORE: James Jordan claims Strictly judges 'softened' Ellie Simmonds dance critiqueLess than 24-hours after her wild opening number, the TV star confessed that she couldn’t help but cringe as she watched herself back on the BBC One dance competition.Taking to Instagram, Jayde shared a sweet snap of the pair dazzling the dancefloor with her impressive dance moves.In full view of her 96.6k followers on the popular social media account, she opened up about her insecurities and how her dance partner has been helping her to overcome them.She wrote: “Full disclosure: when I saw this picture, I cringed a bit and the reason why? I can see in this picture that I am 100% happy and for a second I felt super vulnerable, how weird is that?“But then I looked over at my love @karenhauer in that amazing dress, with her incredible sense of style, her exemplary attention to detail, talent and creativity and I knew with complete clarity that everything was going to be just fine.”Jayde added: “Thank you to everyone, EVERYONE for every delicious thing you’ve said to me, my brain is going crazy with this oxytocin [heart emoji].“Massive shout out to @lubamushtuk and @arduinobertoncello who have been part of my team on the show as well.

Strictly Come Dancing's Jayde Adams has shared a hilarious wardrobe error in a behind-the-scenes video of her dance on the BBC One show.Taking to Instagram, the comedian, 37, posted a clip from rehearsals of her dance with pro partner Karen Hauer, where they performed a Samba to Dirrty by Christina Aguilera. In Jayde's dance on Saturday, the actress had to rip off blue overalls to reveal a stunning black sequinned gown complete with feathers on it.

Kym Marsh looked ready to go and get stuck into another week of training as she left Morning Live on Monday (September 26). The former Coronation Street was spotted with her Strictly Come Dancing partner Graziano Di Prima after they appeared on the BBC One show which Kym co-hosts.

STRICTLY Come Dancing fans were left stunned after a leaderboard-topping couple broke down in tears during the judges scores. The hit show finally returned to BBC on Saturday, as stars took to the stage to strut their stuff, including Helen Skelton, football and Arsenal legend Tony Adams and food writer Jayde Adams. But fans were left gobsmacked when Corrie actor Will Mellor and partner Nancy Xu broke down in tears when they go a leaderboard topping score of - making them joint first with Hamza and his partner Jowita Przystal at 34 points per piece.

STRICTLY Come Dancing viewers noticed Fleur East struggled to hide her fury after getting criticised by the judges. Despite a hugely powerful and energetic performance to end the first live show, she received negative feedback from the judges. Judge Craig Revel Horwood told her: "It was very wild.

Strictly Come Dancing's James Jordan left fans unimpressed last weekend after his critique of contestant Ellie Simmonds. Ellie, who is a former Paralympian swimmer, 27, is taking part in this year's series of Strictly with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin, 24.Taking to Twitter to express his analysis of Ellie's performance, James wrote: “Ellie! I b****y loved it! Well done Nikita - a full on routine - great timing and fun.

BBC has said. Viewing numbers were also down for the show’s launch episode on Friday which saw the celebrity contestants paired up with their professional partners. It was watched by an average of 5.

HELEN Skelton's ex Richie Myler has broken his silence following the TV presenter's Strictly debut. The Countryfile presenter, 39, was left shattered when her rugby husband Richie ended their eight-year marriage in April, four months after their third child was born.  The 32-year-old moved on very quickly from his failed marriage with new girlfriend Stephanie Thirkill, 32, the daughter of multi-millionaire Andrew Thirkill.  And last night as Helen put on a spectacular performance on the dance floor, Richie made a dig at his ex on Instagram.

Will Mellor dedicated his dance to his mum and late dad as he and Wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin placed joint top of the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard in week one of the new series. Saturday marked the first competition night of the popular show, with 15 couples battling it out to get as many points as possible. Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps star Will performed an electric jive to Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin with his partner Nancy Xu which impressed judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas so much that they gave him a standing ovation and a score of 34.

Strictly Come Dancing pair Giovanni Pernice and Richie Anderson have reportedly got off to a rocky start following claims the professional is "frustrated" with his partner.Reigning champion Giovanni, 32, and the radio personality are one of two same-sex couples on this years series along with Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer.A source revealed to The Sun that the pair have "failed to click", adding that Richie is not listening to him during rehearsals.READ MORE: Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood defends Matt Goss after Anton Du Beke's catty remark"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," the insider said.They continued: “He has told pals that Richie talks instead of listening during training, and it is frustrating.”The source went on to say that the pair are still getting used to each other, adding: "Giovanni thinks Richie has real potential in the competition." Giovanni and Richie are the second all-male partnership in Strictly history after Johannes Radebe and John Whaite who finished in second place in last years competition behind Giovanni and EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.

Actor Will Mellor is set to be a favourite to go on and lift the Glitterball trophy as winner of Strictly Come Dancing for 2022 after topping the leaderboard and wowing judges and fans in week one of the show. Betfair have now revealed Will’s odds of winning the show have been slashed to 6/4 from 5/1, making him the new favourite to win the show after an impressive opening week score of 34.