I’m on BBC Breakfast at 0850 tomorrow morning talking all things Strictly, so tune in if you want to see my Sunday morning Skype face. Otherwise you can find me on Twitter @heidistephens, or I’ll see you next Saturday - thanks for joining in and being fabulous, it’s SO good to be back! Hx
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So that’s it for the launch show! All our couples have been coupled, and we can now get on with the dancing. This year we’ve dispensed with the two week break in proceedings where the couples learn to dance and I pop off to Spain to play tennis (SOB) – we’re straight back in next Saturday with the first show at 7.25pm. No Sunday elimination in Week 1, but Saturday is usually a 2-hour marathon so re-stock your snack cupboard.
OK so instead they’re just going to dance a long way from each other in small groups. That makes sense. Clara looks great but Jacquie is currently a little wooden. Caroline looks VERY promising and I like the look of JJ too. I don’t Max is going to be bothering Jay’s glitterball any time soon.
Maisie and Nicola both look great, and Bill and Jamie are both impressively light of foot. We’ve definitely seen worse, and I’m very excited about next week.
All that remains is the painfully awkward group dance, where our celebs get to show us their moves for the first time. Presumably they can’t all be on the dancefloor at once because BUBBLES and SOCIAL DISTANCING, so this may involve some clever editing. I suspect the video editors are going to be the unsung heroes of this year’s Strictly.
Which means Max is partnered with...well, it must be Dianne? Unless she’s been sidelined for Nancy, which feels like something I would have heard about.
It’s DIANNE.
Bill Bailey is partnered with...OTI. This is another incredible partnership, I love them both.
JJ is paired with Amy, who is secretly the dancer he wanted. DRINK.
Can I just say that Tess’s dress is actually gorgeous, which means it’s all downhill from here.
And finally it’s MAX GEORGE from boyband of yore The Wanted. He’s following in the footsteps of his bandmate Jay McGuinness who won Strictly in 2015, so obviously absolutely no pressure there then. Imagine poor Max in Jive week. He’s so screwed.
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Next up it’s comedian, musician and actor BILL BAILEY, who I am a HUGE fan of – can’t tell you how thrilled I am that he’s on this year’s Strictly. He’s obviously incredibly musical so hopefully he’ll have outstanding rhythm on the dancefloor too. If not he’ll be funny so we’ll be winners either way.
Time to meet our final male pros! First it’s time to meet JJ CHALMERS, who is a television presenter, former Royal Marine and Invictus Games Medallist. He also commentates on the Paralympics and the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day. Everything I’ve read about JJ suggests he’s a brilliant broadcaster and a very good egg.
Kelvin and Oti are revisting part of their Showdance from last year’s final in a socially-distanced fashion (DRINK). Kelvin’s not in the bubble, bit gutting for him.
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Kelvin’s back to tell everyone to work hard, have fun and be themselves. We get a highlights montage, which brings back many happy memories of when the world wasn’t entirely upside down and batshit insane.
Is Motse’s hair real, do we think? It’s properly immaculate, if it’s not a wig it must have taken HOURS.
And finally in this section, Maisie is paired with whichever man is left! Neil, I think? Or Gorka? I can’t remember which one doesn’t have a partner this year.
I’ve just noticed all the audience members wearing masks. What at time to be alive.
It’s GORKA! Lucky Maisie.
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Jacquie Smith is going to have fun because Ed Balls told her to. Ed’s a proper sage, isn’t he?
Jacquie is paired with ANTON, and pretends to be delighted about it. DRINK.
Nicola Adams is paired with...KATYA. I can’t wait to see how this partnership goes, it’s such a great move for Strictly and Nicola has incredible energy. I’m super-excited about it.
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And finally in this batch it’s MAISIE SMITH, who the BBC blurb tells me is best known for ‘playing the role of Tiffany Butcher-Baker on BBC’s Eastenders’. I haven’t watched Eastenders in decades, but if there isn’t a storyline where Tiffany learns to be a candlestick maker then honestly I don’t know what my BBC licence fee is for.
Next it’s former politician JACQUIE SMITH, who was briefly Home Secretary until *checks notes* an issue with some murky expenses. She’s now the Chair of the biggest NHS Trust in the UK, but thankfully not much is happening in the NHS at the moment so she’s got loads of time on her hands to keep Anton out of trouble. Obviously I don’t KNOW that she’ll be paired with Anton, but come on. It’s Anton, isn’t it?
Time to meet some more celebs! First up it’s Nicola Adams, who is an Olympic gold medallist boxer. In exciting news, she’s going to be dancing with A LADY in a Strictly first, but it definitely isn’t Karen (boo).
MNEK is joined by some of our pro dances - Graziano and Nadiya dancing intently, and Neil and Nancy in Elastoplast slacks and a disco flamingo outfit respectively.
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Time for a musical interlude, courtesy of singer/songwriter MNEK with Joel Correy. I’m a big fan of MNEK’s work and that neopolitan icecream suit. It looks comfy, and I’m all about the comfort these days. Haven’t so much as looked at an underwire since March.
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Jamie Laing is partnered with KAREN. Sorry babes, you only get one chance at Oti and you blew it.
On the upside, they have the same white blonde pixie cut. On the downside I as really hoping that Karen would be paired with Nicola. Strictly, you are a cruel mistress.
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Jason is partnered with LUBA. She’s an incredible dancer; I have high hopes for this partnership.
HRVY’s alrdy hd CVD-19, but he isltd wth hs fmly nd nw hs bttr.
He’s paired with JNTT! OK I can’t keep this up, I’m bored already. Janette and Aljaz are having to live apart to they can bubble with their partners, which is definitely taking one for the Strictly team. Imagine choosing not to wake up next to Aljaz?
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Finally for this batch it’s JAMIE LAING! You may remember him from giving Kelvin Fletcher killer death stares last year as he swanned in, stole Oti, jiggled his hips and lifted the glitterball.
Obviously it’s only right that Jamie gets another chance after his foot injury before the launch show last year, but will he get his chance with Oti this time round? I feel like he should, which means he probably won’t.
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Next up it’s time to meet Jason Bell, this year’s obligatory Random American. Apparently he’s a former NFL player and broadcaster, although I’ve only ever heard of him in the context of ‘boyfriend of Nadine from Girls Aloud.’ Apparently they’ve split up now so he’s clearly having to fall back on his lesser claim to fame.
Time to pair up some male celebrities! First up is HRVY, who is a 21-year-old YouTube popstar. Now obviously I’m older than the hills and thus not HRVY’s target audience, and also I’d never heard of Joe Sugg either until Strictly and he turned out to be delightful.
So I’m going to assume that HRVY is here to engage the teen audience but is also going to end up being much beloved of the mums and the nans, which is never a bad strategy.
Another pro dance, which has a Gatsby vibe. Nadiya is dressed in your nan’s net curtains.
Incidentally I am very taken by blonde, moustachioed Gorka.
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Time for a behind-the-scenes montage. It’s actually really interesting, Anyone else really wishing they’d been invited to the Hotel Bubble (drink)?
Before they entered the hotel, all the pros quarantined for two weeks and had two Covid tests.
No wonder you couldn’t get a test a few weeks ago, Strictly had bagged the lot.
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The judges are very excited about the partnerships. Can you imagine if one of them said ‘actually to be honest I’m not really feeling this. Can we swap for Gorka?’ I’d die laughing.
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Can I just say that I’m quite enjoying this pairing format.
Ranvir is paired with GIOVANNI. Another nice pairing - they’re definitely bringing out the big guns early.
So far they’re ALL getting their dream partners, which is a HUGE coincidence. DRINK.
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So the format of the pairings this evening is - bit of chat, random VT, quick chat with Claudia.
Clara is partnered with...ALJAZ. OK this is amazing, these first two pairings are going to keep me going right through until Christmas.
Caroline Quentin is partnered with JOHANNES! I LOVE this partnership. ‘It’s fuego, it’s fire, it’s hot’ says Johannes, and I’m feeling it already.
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“Everyone has been tested twice before forming their bubble.”
Twelve months ago these words would have made no sense whatsoever. Even now they seem a bit bonkers.
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Usually I’d bitch about how this show takes 90 minutes to do a pairing job that should take about ten, but I’m so Strictly-starved I’m prepared to go with it. Embrace the endless filler, everyone.
And finally in this batch it’s newsreader and political editor Ranvir Singh, who does Good Morning Britain and ITV News. I stopped watching the news several apocalyptic years ago so I’m not hugely familiar with her work, but apparently she’s also been on Loose Women so that’s usually a good sign that somebody’s up for a Disco Salsa.
Next it’s Radio 1 DJ CLARA AMFO, who is an entirely fabulous Glitter Queen and I can’t believe we’ve had to wait this long for her to do Strictly. In my head she was quite tall and thus destined for a partnership with Aljaz or Johannes (THE DREAM), but the internet tells me she’s only 5’3” so maybe not.
Time to meet some celebs! First up is actress CAROLINE QUENTIN, who has done lots of exceptional acting work but for me will always be Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly. She’s a bona fide national treasure and must be protected at all costs.
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Bubbles! DRINK! Pairings have been done remotely earlier, and they’ve all been tested twice. It’s all quite confusing but very much government approved. SERCO may or may not be involved.
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Time to meet this year’s celebrities! There are only 12 this year instead of the usual 14 or 15. I’ve heard of three of them, four if you count Jamie Laing who I’ve only heard of because he was almost on Strictly last year. Apparently he has some kind of oblique connection to chocolate digestives, but the details are sketchy.
A 25% hit rate is about normal for me, but they’ll all feel like best friends by Christmas.
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If you’re wondering where Bruno is, he’s doing whatever it is he does in the US. They’ll be streaming him in for the results show, hopefully via Zoom or Houseparty or something equally Covid-appropriate.
Social distancing! DRINK. I’m assuming that’s canned applause, but it would be weird to have complete silence.
TESS AND CLAUDIA DRESS WATCH: Tess in a strapless Dalmatian, Trace in Next sparkly pink pyjamas. Such a shame they didn’t have her size.
Out come the judges! Motse’s channelling her inner Anna Wintour with a killer bob. On Motse it looks amazing. On me it would look like Lego hair. Life is very unfair sometimes.
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And we’re off! We kick of with a pro dance featuring beaches and wind and fabulous dresses, to the tune of ‘Everybody’s Free’ by Rozalla (John Lewis Acoustic Version). It’s all rather lovely and emotional. What a year.
Ah, we’re in the studio and it’s gone disco. It seems strange without an audience, but on the upside NO OUT OF TIME CLAPPING.
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Just before we get started, can we agree not to snipe about the changes they’ve made for this series? Obviously it’s going to be different and probably not entirely for the better, although if social distancing means Tess can’t manhandle the contestants then I’m very much on board. But it’s worth remembering that the alternative to a 2020-style Strictly would be no Strictly at all, and the fact that the BBC have managed to find a way to deliver such a huge show is to be applauded. There’s quite a lot I’m willing to sacrifice for a weekly dose of dance-filled joy, so let’s all just be nice. THANKS.
It’s time for the Strictly Come Bingo – Covid-19 Special Edition! Take a swig of whatever’s in your Pandemic Emergency Booze Cupboard for any occurrence of the following:
- Mentions of social distancing
- Bruno on Zoom
- Claudia doing a joke about how she’s changed her name to Tracey so they can be TESS AND TRACE
- The word ‘bubble’
- Pro dancers showing a disingenuous level of enthusiasm when they discover who their celebrity partner is.
Evening all, and welcome to this year’s Strictly Come Dancing Liveblog! I’m very excited to be back, because let’s be honest that wasn’t a given in this raging binfire of a year. But here we are, ready to immerse ourselves in a much-needed sequin-encrusted bucket of music and dance. Hopefully everybody in the cast and crew will stay Covid-free until Christmas; if not and things go the way of BGT and the Little Mix thing, we might still be doing this at Easter. Will I be complaining? No.
Tonight is this year’s Strictly launch show, when our latest batch of celebrities with be paired up with their pro dance partners. It’s been pre-recorded in different locations so I’m not sure how tonight’s format is going to play out, but I DO know that the couples are already rehearsing so they can get straight into the first live show next week. If you want to get your head round how this year’s Strictly will work, the BBC have done a good explainer here.
I’ll be here from 7.50pm to add a touch of sparkle to proceedings, so please feel free to sprinkle a little eco-glitter in the comment box below. This is the ultimate socially-distanced fan community, so give each other a virtual hug and get involved.
See you in a bit!
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