Will Mellor has been dubbed 'the biggest surprise of the night' as Strictly returns for its first live show.
The popular BBC dancing contest returned for its 20th series on Saturday after it was delayed following the Queen's death.
The new couples, who were publicly announced during a pre-recorded launch show on Friday, took to the dance floor for their first routines this weekend.
The Coronation Street star, 46, was partnered up with Strictly pro Nancy Xu and they were announced to be performing a Jive for their first performance.
Wow! Will and Nancy packed all the hips, kicks and flicks into that Jive 🙌@Mellor76 @Nancy_xuxi pic.twitter.com/QZdfHGCKrz
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) September 24, 2022
Will Mellor surprises Strictly Come Dancing viewers during first live show
The 46-year-old, best known for playing Gaz in Noughties sitcom Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps impressed the judges, the live audience and viewers at home with his energetic routine to Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin.
Judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas were so blown away by his performance that they gave him a standing ovation which left his professional dancer partner Nancy Xu in tears.
Mabuse quizzed where Mellor had learnt his hip movements as she exclaimed: “You surprised me, I’m speechless. That was fantastic. Best start ever.”
READ MORE: What is the Strictly curse and which celebrities have fallen to it?
READ MORE: Where are the Strictly Come Dancing winners now? Find out as 2022 series begins
Meanwhile, Anton Du Beke said that it looked like the actor had been dancing the routine for 18 months, adding: “It was absolutely amazing.”
Will and Nancy topped the leaderboard with an extraordinary 34 out of a possible 40 for their week one routine.
They shared the top spot with Hamza and Jowita who also impressed the judges with their Foxtrot to Islands In The Stream.
Fans at home couldn't help but agree with the judges, with many taking to share their support for the jiving couple.
One person wrote on Twitter:"The Biggest surprise of the night for me so far. Will's jive was worthy of Blackpool and it's only week 1. WOW I'm shaking."
A second viewer posted:" Will Mellor and Ricky Martin in the same dance will is one to watch."
A third person tweeted:"Will is a legend. So likeable and that has to be in the top 5 first routines of all time. Amazing!"
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday, October 1 on 6.30pm on BBC One.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here