AJ Odudu makes Strictly history with Shirley Ballas score

While all of the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 line-up did well, with no disastrous performances, there were some surprise scores given - one of which being Craig Revel Horwood giving the highest score out of the four judges to Robert Webb.

But it was AJ Odudu that won the judges over the most and she made great strides towards lifting the Glitterball trophy tonight as not only did she top the leaderboard, but she grabbed the first-ever nine Shirley Ballas has given in Week One.

Odudu got another nine from Anton Du Beke while Craig and Motsi Mabuse both gave her an eight which put her firmly at the top of the leaderboard by a whopping 32 points - not a bad start at all for a Week One performance. Scoring 30 and tied for second were John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, and Adam Peaty and Katya Jones.

AJ was visibly stunned to get the scores she did and she was even more amazed when Claudia Winkleman told her that it was Shirley's first nine for a Week One performance. "I am absolutely gobsmacked. Ten days ago I had never ever ever danced properly before - ever. I can't believe this is happening".

If this is Week One, just imagine how good AJ will be in the weeks to come - and we certainly can't see her leaving the competition any time soon.

It was also a good week for her professional partner, Kai Widdrington who made his debut tonight.

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