AJ Odudu makes Strictly history with Shirley Ballas score

A strong start for AJ!

Joe Julians

Published: Saturday, 25 September 2021 at 9:44 pm

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This year's series of Strictly Come Dancing has really started, and we have the first Strictly 2021 leaderboard to look at.

After we got to find out what all the Strictly Come Dancing songs and dances were for Week One, tonight we got to see them all in action and it was a particularly good week for one celebrity contestant.

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.

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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.

Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One on Saturdays and Sundays. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide or visit our Entertainment hub for the latest news.