Strictly Come Dancing 2023 is well underway, with another set of celebrities plying their moves on the famous dancefloor.
The BBC’s flagship dance competition kicked off its 21st series on Saturday 23 September, with contestants such as Angela Rippon, Bobby Brazier and Les Dennis vying for the Glitterball trophy.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are presenting the series, while the judging panel of Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas all return.
Over the course of episode one and two, Rippon – who, at 78, is the oldest contestant in Strictly history – emerged as a potential frontrunner, as well as soap star Brazier, and actors Ellie Leach, Layton Williams and Amanda Abbington.
During the second live show, which aired on Saturday 30 September, Williams made history with an incredible quickstep performed to “Puttin’ On the Ritz”, which earned the 28-year-old and his professional partner Nikita Kuzmin four nines from the judges, making it the top-performing dance of the evening. This is only the third time in Strictly history that a dance in the second week has received four nines.
You can read about the contestants on Strictly 2023 here.
For the series, Love Island star Zara McDermott is paired with pro dancer Graziano Di Prima. Abbington is partnered with pro dancer Giovanni Pernice, and Rippon with Kai Widdrington.
Williams forms the series’ sole same-sex duo with partner Kuzmin, and revered broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy is paired with pro dancer Lauren Oakley. Comedian Eddie Kadi danced with pro Karen Hauer, while Irish presenter Angela Scanlon was with Carlos Gu.
Emmerdale star Adam Thomas performed the first dance of the series, with pro partner Luba Mushtuk; presenter Nikita Kanda is paired with pro dancer Gorka Márquez. Leach is partnered with pro dancer Vito Coppola.
Decorated paralympian Jody Cundy is paired with dancer Jowita Przystał, and Brazier with Dianne Buswell. Harman is matched with Katya Jones, and Annabel Croft is with Johannes Radebe. Dennis is paired with pro dancer Nancy Xu.
You can catch up with what happened during week two of Strictly Come Dancing 2023 here.
Here’s the rankings and points totals as it stands:
Layton and Nikita: 29 + 36 = 65
Amanda and Giovanni: 29 + 32 = 61
Ellie and Vito: 29 + 31 = 60
Angela and Kai: 28 + 31 = 59
Nigel and Katya: 32 + 27 = 59
Bobby and Dianne: 29 + 29 = 58
Angela and Carlos: 23 + 29 = 52
Annabel and Johannes: 28 + 22 = 50
Eddie and Karen: 22 + 21 = 43
Krishnan and Lauren: 22 + 20 = 42
Adam and Luba: 19 + 23 = 42
Zara and Graziano: 19 + 23 = 42
Jody and Jowita: 21 + 16 = 37
Nikita and Gorka: 18 + 18 = 36
Les and Nancy: 16 + 15 = 31
Strictly Come Dancing’s live shows air on Saturday nights on BBC One.
