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Strictly Come Dancing’s judges were left “stunned” as they declared content creator John Nellis the unexpected break-out star of the show’s opening episode.
The BBC dance competition kicked off on Saturday (26 September) night, with all 15 celebrity contestants dancing on live TV in front of the British public for the first time.
The penultimate dance of the night came from Northern Irish YouTuber Nellis, 33, who, despite his 16 million followers online, had been dubbed one of the lesser known Strictly 2026 cast members by the show’s viewers.
Dancing with his professional partner Katya Jones, Nellis performed a foxtrot to “Ordinary” by Alex Warren that left judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas on their feet and the studio audience in rapturous applause.
Judge Anton Du Beke told Nellis: “I shouldn’t really say this, but I’m a bit stunned. That was extraordinary. That was absolutely beautiful. I could wax lyrical about that for a long time.”
He then compared Nellis to cricketer Darren Gough, a similar underdog on Strictly’s third series in 2005 who went on to win the competition.
Craig Revel Horwood was typically harsher, saying that Nellis lacked swing and sway but praising his “classy, elegant and graceful” performance.
His fellow judge Motsi Mabuse admitted that seeing Nellis perform such a “difficult” dance as the foxtrot for his first dance had made her emotional.
“Guys, I have to say, this was for me the best dance of the night,” she said, with this final point being echoed by head Shirley Ballas.
“You are very, very special, I can tell you that now,” Ballas told Nellis. “I’m like Anton, I just didn’t expect that, so please excuse me. But that was the best dance of the night so far.”
Speaking to the couple after they danced, Strictly’s new co-host and former dancer Johannes Radebe said that he was ”gooped and gagged” by Nellis’s performance. On the dance floor, Josh Widdicombe gave the internet star a hug.
The scores reflected this praise, with Nellis receiving a seven from Horwood and three eights from the other three judges respectively.
His combined score of 31 put him at the top of the leaderboard, with Australian singer Delta Goodrem, who followed him and closed the show, coming in second with 29 points.
Prior to the first live episode, Nellis had the fifth best odds of winning Strictly, following Dani Dyer, Lawrence Robb, Delta Goodrem and Lacey Turner.
As is tradition on Strictly, all of the celebrities make it through the first week with nobody being eliminated from the competition.
Instead their week two scores will be combined with week one’s and a new leaderboard drawn up, with viewers able to vote for their favourites for the first time next week.
Week two will look a little different this year, however, as it was revealed on Saturday that Strictly’s Movie Week will run earlier in the competition this series and take place next Saturday (3 October).
