Strictly Come Dancing viewers were divided as the show unexpectedly welcomed a studio audience back on Saturday night, with some claiming it 'ruined' the show.
After the country went into lockdown, audience members were absent from the live shows but at the top of this week's programme, host Tess Daly announced that a socially distanced audience was present, including NHS staff and key workers, who were seen wearing sparkly masks for the occasion.
And their presence made a notable difference as the remaining Strictly contestants made their way down the show's famous stairs for their introductions, with whoops and cheers sounding out around the ballroom and they continued during all of the evening's routines, with the crowd also vocal on their feelings about the judges scores.
But, while Tess and co-host Claudia Winkleman looked thrilled to have an audience back, fans of the show were torn as they aired their views on Twitter, with some sharing in the excitement but others not as delighted.
Very much for the audience's return, one tweeted: "So nice to see an audience albeit small and socially distant in the #Strictly studio.
"Hopefully next year the place will be packed & full of life again," and, in agreement, another reacted: "it's really nice to see and hear a proper #strictly audience"
Taking a different stance, a disgruntled viewer commented: "listen strictly was so much better without the audience screaming every five minutes and it’s already ruined it by having them back"
Sharing that view, a second remarked: "Can we get rid of the #Strictly audience? It was better without them."
Ahead of the liveshow, Betfair said they "couldn't separate" Bill Bailey and HRVY as favourite to win Strictly this year.
