The 5 biggest moments from Strictly Come Dancing’s first live show – as it happened --[Reported by Umva mag]

Strictly Come Dancing 2024 kicked off to a dazzling start, with one pop star taking an early lead by topping the scoreboard.

With a stellar line-up including Chris McCausland, Tasha Ghouri, Pete Wicks, Jamie Borthwick, Nick Knowles, Shayne Ward, and JB Gill, the beloved BBC programme’s 20th-anniversary series began with the first live show on Saturday night.

Last weekend, millions tuned in for the launch show to find out which celebs were paired with which partners, following the axe of Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, and the welcome return of Aljaž Škorjanec.

Last night, all 15 couples performed their first routines after weeks of intense training, treating us to paso dobles, cha chas, tangos, and sambas galore.

On hand to dish out both compliments and criticism were returning judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke to receptions of both cheers and mighty boos from the studio audience.

And now you’ve seen all the celebs perform, who do you think is a dark horse? Who is your winner? And who only has one dance left in them?

If you missed all the action, don’t panic, read on for the biggest moments from the live show.

Amy Dowden makes triumphant return to the ballroom

Glowing praise was showered onto JLS star JB and Amy Dowden, who returned to the show after a year of breast cancer treatment.

The Beat Again hitmaker earned 31 points for his elegant routine to When I Need You by Leo Sayer, catapulting him to the top of the leaderboard.

Amy, who disclosed her cancer diagnosis in May 2023, which was followed by chemotherapy and a mastectomy, said: ‘I am so happy I could burst.’

Head judge Shirley told the dancer: ‘Amy, you’re home where you belong and I have to say that choreography was absolutely outstanding.’

Seven from Craig, eight from Motsi, eight from Shirley, and eight from Anton gave them a total of 31, taking JB to an early lead.

This comes after a dazzling tribute marking Amy’s return during the launch show last week.

Chris McCausland makes Strictly viewers cringe with dicey joke

Chris McCausland, who is making history as the show’s first-ever blind contestant, pushed the boundaries on Strictly last night, after becoming a favourite with viewers.

The comedian has already proven he won’t shy away from risky gags, having mocked the fact that the stars were ‘able to get in the same room as a GP’ on launch night, as Dr Punam Krishan competes for the glitterball.

And during the first live show, he took things even further, joking about his partner Dianne Buswell ‘kicking’ him ‘in the head’ during rehearsals for a risky move.

‘If there was ever any doubt that I have more sight than I was letting on, I did not avoid nor anticipate it… I stood there and I took a foot right in the face,’ he laughed.

Reacting to Chris’s humour, viewer katyajcnes wrote on X: ‘i know the bbc hr employees felt their souls leave their bodies hearing chris talk about getting kicked’.

Pete Wicks claps back at judges over savage criticism

As the contestants all prepared to get their first round of harsh criticism from the judges, Pete Wicks fired back after he was given less than glowing feedback.

Having admitted he had the ‘flexibility of a chopstick’, the Towie star, 35, left Shirley ‘lost for words’, saying: ‘I did find the footwork not to be any sort of authentic pasodoble but keep trying and come back next week fighting. But it wasn’t my cup of tea darling.’

‘You got through the routine and it’s not that you can’t do the steps or the choreography but it’s the timing and the music that gets you on edge,’ Anton added, with the judge saying the routing made him ‘nervous’.

However, jumping in, Pete declared: ‘I’ve got no rhythm mate!’

Sarah Hadland scores a Strictly first with incredible Quickstep

Sarah Hadland and reigning champion Vito Coppola earned glowing praise for their ‘glowing’ quickstep to 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton.

‘One word – fantastic, darling!’, Craig stated, while Shirley declared: ‘I just love this pairing!’

‘I did secretly like it quite a lot, but it is terrifying,’ Sarah told Claudia after their dance, with Italian pro Vito bursting with excitement.

‘First time I meet someone with more energy than me!’, he said, having lifted the glitterball last series with Ellie Leach.

Eight from Craig, eight from Motsi, seven from Shirley, and seven from Anton gave them a total of 30, and it even made history…

This made it the highest-scoring quickstep in week 1 Strictly has ever had!

Tasha Ghouri earns spectacular praise from head judge Shirley Ballas

Love Islander Tasha Ghouri brought Aljaž Škorjanec back to the ballroom floor for the first time since 2021, as they danced an incredible cha cha cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter – and the judges were gushing over it.

Shirley praised: ‘You’re on your way to having one of the most spectacular leg actions I’ve seen on the show.’

Anton said she was ‘terrific’, while Craig was full of praise for the first time last night, hailing their performance as a ‘slay’.

Two eights and two sevens gave the pair a stellar total of 30 from the panel, putting them close to the top of the leaderboard.

Here’s everything else you may have missed from the first live show…

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