Greg Wise was cheered on by his wife and fellow actor Emma Thompson as he made his Strictly Come Dancing debut.
The Sense and Sensibility star was praised by judges and fans for an impressive start to the competition, after dancing the American Smooth with his professional partner, Karen Hauer.
His daughter with Thompson, Gaia, was also cheering him on.
Wise said he was “pathetically grateful” to Thompson for persuading him to turn down a three-film offer in order to take part in Strictly, referring to her as “my love” in his post-dance interview with Claudia Winkleman.
He received some of the highest scores of the competition so far from the judges, achieving a total of 24 after new judge Anton Du Beke gave him a 7.
Wise is best known for his role as John Willoughby in the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, the screenplay for which was written by Thompson.
He can also be seen in the films A Private War and Military Wives, and played Lord Mountbatten in the hit Netflix series, The Crown.
“My beautiful sister was a huge disco queen. She left our world almost exactly 5 years ago in a glitter ball coffin. This is for her. My gorgeous Diva sis, who would have been insane with excitement that her little bro was doing this,” he said in his statement ahead of the competition.
“I will channel her, as her bro can’t dance - but I’m thrilled to be dipping my toes, knees, hips and arms into this wonderful world, and hope to make her proud, and obviously make her laugh...”
Learn more about this year’s contestants here.
