Strictly Come Dancing fans have already crowned their winner following the first live episode of the new series, and it is not Lacey Turner.
The glitzy BBC One show returned this month with a fresh batch of celebrities, including Lacey Turner, Chris Appleton and Jamie Winstone. On Saturday (September 26), the first live episode aired, with the stars taking to the dance floor for the first time.
Lawrence Robb's paso doble wows viewers
It was Emmerdale star Lawrence Robb's performance that got viewers talking. The Scottish actor and his professional partner Jowita Przystal performed a paso doble to Aperture by Harry Styles, which earned 20 points from the judges.
Reacting on X, fans were quick to declare their support. One person wrote: “LAWRENCE AND JOWITA MY WINNERS.” Another added: “OMG I LOVE!!! Could Jowita have another win under her belt?.”
A third chimed in: “Jowita has a potential winner touching her left shoulder. Who is Lawrence and why are we about to fall in love with him?!” Someone else declared: “Lawrence was amazing!!! Wow.” A fifth penned: “Lawrence is a strong dancer. Not a bad Paso for his first dance.”
Lawrence on joining the Strictly class of 2026
Speaking previously about joining the Strictly line-up, Lawrence admitted: “Overwhelmed would be my first word to have used, and I think that's the word that I've used heavily over the last few weeks. Also nervous, trepidatious, but excited is the overriding emotion. I've never done anything like this before, and from the very minimal dancing that I've done in the past, I know that it's going to be an uphill battle from the get-go. I think once things kick off, I'll probably understand what I've got myself into!”
The TV star also revealed it was his mum, gran and father who persuaded him to sign up. He explained: “My mum is arguably more excited about it than I am, and for someone that is going to host Strictly parties every Saturday, I kind of feel like I owe it to her to do at least relatively well so she can carry on hosting them!”
On his family and friends' reaction, Lawrence said: “It was varied! It went from ‘oh nice’, to pure weeping. My Dad was very proud and happy, but he doesn't watch the show, so I don't think it hit home in the same way that it did for my Mum. My Mum knew that I was going in for it and that it was on the cards, and as soon as I phoned my Mum to tell her, my younger brother was like, “I want to be on the call to watch her reaction!”.
He added: “I told a couple of people at Emmerdale on the day about 20 minutes before the announcement, and a couple of them jumped through the roof.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs every weekend on BBC One.
