Emma Willis has broken her silence following the first live show of Strictly Come Dancing amid backlash from viewers. The presenter, 50, was joined by fellow hosts Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe to welcome all 15 couples to the ballroom floor, who performed live in front of judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke for the first time.
New presenting trio divides viewers
The trio split presenting responsibilities with Willis and Widdicombe stationed by the judges’ table while Radebe welcomed the dancers on the balcony ahead of the score reveal. The first live show of the BBC dance contest saw social media star John Nellis top the leaderboard. The Northern Irish football content creator and his partner Katya Jones wowed the judges, who gave the couple 31 points.
The evening also saw EastEnders actress Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola dance a cha cha to How Will I Know by Whitney Houston, scoring 27 points, while actress Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu’s quickstep to Stop This Flame by Celeste scored 26. Former Love Island winner Dani Dyer-Bowen finally made her Strictly debut with Nikita Kuzmin, after she was forced to pull out of last year's show because of an injury. The couple scored 22 points for their samba to Lush Life.
Fan criticism on social media
Love Island star Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby were given 20 points for their quickstep to I Just Might by Bruno Mars, while hairstylist Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden’s tango to No Roots by Alice Merton earned them 16 points. Meanwhile, the new hosts divided viewers with their presenting duties, with many taking to X to complain that the programme 'does not need' three presenters.
Taking to X, one viewer @SouthernCazza1 shared: "Why does it take three presenters anyway? Are Strictly Come Dancing saying that it takes three people to fill Claudia and Tess's shoes? #StrictlyComeDancing #Strictly." @Claudiacc said: "This just doesn’t work. Overkill with three presenters. Josh totally wrong and Johannes lack of experience really shows. Emma is amazing but the two blokes are going to lose viewers unless the BBC act swiftly #strictly."
Emma's Instagram response
Emma has now spoken out for the first time since hosting the first live show, but failed to address any of the criticism towards her fellow hosts. Sharing a post with her 2 million followers on Instagram on Sunday (September 27), Emma stunned in photos showing off her beautiful white dress, as well as sharing a video with her partner Matt Willis. The caption read: "Week one, done. I’ve never had so much fun! What a way to kick things off @bbcstrictly."
