Johnny B. Goode

Oct 2, 2026 by Rob

The biggest ‘surprise’ of week 1 was undoubtedly John Nellis who produced an elegant foxtrot – excellent topline, as they say in the biz – and top scored on the night. It wasn’t that big a surprise to subscribers, who were advised to back John at 20-1 pre-lives, as soon as we knew he was partnered by Katya.

There were some strong hints he would be light on his feet. Factor in the brilliance of Katya, the ideal song, great styling and lighting, and hey presto. John hit as low as 3.2 in-running but has since settled around 4.6. The next big test will be fast Latin but at this early stage he looks firmly in the mix.

He now gets the chance to reinforce his contender status with a Couple’s Choice to a track from Titanic. My money would be on ‘Gaelic Storm’ and we all know what happened the last time Katya choreographed a CC number – that incredible Halloween Week, musical-theatre-inspired routine that earned Lewis and her the perfect 40.

Watching last week’s show progress, you wondered who out of Dani and Delta would be afforded the pimp slot. Dani seemed the more logical choice, with samba looking a tough assignment for Delta to cope with straight out of the blocks and given her height.

But it was Delta and Kai who stole the night with an outstanding routine that had echoes of Danny Mac and Oti back in 2016.

The fact Delta has managed to master a notoriously difficult fast Latin in week 1 bodes well for her in the competition. Even more so given the fact she looks a more obvious ballroom girl.

She gets to demonstrate her expertise in that tomorrow night with what looks an ideal choice in Movie Week for a classy American Smooth. No distracting costumes or makeovers for her and Kai.

Lacey was the other contestant who unexpectedly showcased bags of potential dancing CCC, which is a handy one to get out the way early in the competition. It will be informative to see how she copes with a first ballroom in quickstep tomorrow night.

Dani was slightly underwhelming dancing her samba and has drifted from below 5 to over 8. She always looked far too short as pre-lives favourite. The technique was there but it all felt too self-contained and the performance side lacked sparkle. Could this be a series-long theme for her? Only time will tell.

Lawrence was the other significant drifter despite a competent paso that felt underscored on the night. The height difference between him and Jowita could hinder their ballroom routines and we will get a first taste of this with VW tomorrow night.

Tabitha also felt harshly scored performing a decent jive early in the show. The ability is there but her and Mark could be at risk of being overshadowed by other pairings in this series.

Week 1 – judges’ leaderboard:

John & Katya – (14) – foxtrot – 7, 8, 8, 8 = 31
Delta & Kai – (15) – samba – 7, 8, 7, 7 = 29
Lacey & Vito – (7) – CCC – 7, 6, 7, 7 = 27
Bethany & Nancy – (6) – QS – 6, 7, 6, 7 = 26
Graeme Lauren – (11) – CCC – 6, 6, 6, 6 = 24
Tabby & Mark – (2) – jive – 4, 6, 5, 7 = 22
Dani & Nikita – (13) – samba – 6, 5, 5, 6 = 22
Jaime & Carlos – (12) – tango – 5, 5, 5, 6 = 21
Lawrence & Jowita – (4) – paso – 4, 5, 5, 6 = 20
Cach & Maddie – (10) – QS – 3, 6, 5, 6 = 20
Will & Dianne – (1) – samba – 4, 5, 4, 5 = 18
Chris & Amy – (8) – tango – 3, 4, 4, 5 = 16
Sarah & Julian – (3) – QS – 3, 4, 4, 4 = 15
Shaun & Alexis – (5) – CCC – 2, 4, 4, 5 = 15
Melanie & Aljaz – (9) – CCC – 2, 4, 4, 5 = 15

It looks like Bethany and Nancy are going to be ramped relentlessly by the show but, similar to Tabitha and Mark, it may prove difficult for them to really catch fire and capture viewers’ imaginations.

Cach and Maddie were given a tough time for a quickstep that leant heavily on Cach’s existing commercial dance skills. Cach’s pro credentials were firmly name-checked and the ringer tag is a difficult one to escape from. He should earn confidence-restoring treatment tomorrow at least dancing a Grease-inspired samba.

Will opened the show with a respectable samba which ended up firmly eclipsed come show end. A foxtrot to that Risky Business track is something that could establish his journey credentials.

Like Will, Jaime looks a solid all-rounder in the making. But the female competition this year could make things hard for her no matter her ability, and being partnered with the previous year’s champion is invariably a difficult handicap to overcome. Oti’s back-to-back wins are the exception to the rule.

Melanie’s CCC was disappointing. She is probably going to be much better at ballroom and a waltz tomorrow evening should see her rise up the leaderboard to relative safety. Graeme did a better job with CCC and a first ballroom in waltz should suit him better too.

Which leaves Chris, Shaun and Sarah as the most likely three under threat of first elimination. Chris will presumably be bare-chested for his Baywatch skit which might bring him a few extra votes, added to which Amy was out first last year.

Sarah and Shaun were on early in 3 and 5 but that doesn’t guarantee later running positions for either. The original week 1/2 combined concept was supposedly to allow all contestants to showcase both Latin and ballroom. That rule has worryingly gone out the window in the case of Shaun who has salsa following CCC.

Sarah has Charleston which is a tricky technique to master, and early training footage didn’t look encouraging. You’d have to conclude Shaun is a worthy, short-priced fav to be first out but there is always an escape route. A disco number can bring a party vibe to the studio and the script, as we know, can easily be flipped.

We will run our exit poll again this year so please do register your votes at the end of tomorrow night’s show here.

Week 2 (Movie Week) – dances & songs:

Bethany and Nancy – Paso – Wicked: For Good – No Good Deed
Cach and Maddie – Samba – Grease – We Go Together
Chris and Amy – CCC – Baywatch – I’m Always Here
Dani and Nikita – Foxtrot – Beauty and the Beast – Beauty and the Beast
Delta and Kai – American Smooth – A Star is Born – I’ll Never Love Again
Graeme and Lauren – Waltz – The Godfather – The godfather Waltz
Jaime and Carlos – CCC – Pretty Woman – Pretty Woman
John and Katya – Couple’s Choice – Titanic – Gaelic Storm?
Lacey and Vito – Quickstep – Toy Story 5 – I Knew it, I Knew You
Lawrence and Jowita – Viennese Waltz – Ratatouille – Le Festin
Melanie and Aljaz – Waltz – The Sound of Music – Edelweiss
Sarah and Julian – Charleston – ?
Shaun and Alexis – Salsa – Saturday Night Fever – You Should Be Dancing
Tabby and Mark – American Smooth – ?
Will and Dianne – Foxtrot – Risky Business – Old Time Rock & Roll