Strictly Come Dancing 2016 launches tonight at 6.50pm on BBC One.
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TV star Judge Rinder is with Oksana Platero, while Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane is with fellow new Strictly pro dancer AJ Pritchard.
Mr Balls has said his Labour politician wife Yvette Cooper had advised him against doing the Rhumba because it would be “appalling”. She said: “It didn’t make me fearless but it made me not have as much worry, the control factor I had of not wanting to do it and make a fool of myself was gone”.
The launch, in which celebrity contestants including Ed Balls, Anastacia and Will Young were paired with professional dancers, attracted an average of 9.3 million viewers (46.4 % share) and a peak of 10.1 million.
James recently weighed in with his thoughts on who should replace Len Goodman on the panel when he steps down at the end of this year, while also suggesting he wouldn’t be sorry to see the back of Craig Revel Horwood or Bruno Tonioli.
Last year’s launch episode got an average of 8.7 million viewers.
The 14th series of the ballroom dancing show, which beat The X Factor in the ratings past year, officially goes live in three weeks.
The 14th series of the ballroom dancing show, which beat The X Factor in the ratings previous year, goes live in three weeks.
Saturday night’s third X Factor episode of auditions was beaten by Strictly, although the rival shows were not broadcast at the same time.
ITV denied the The X Factor was suffering and said the episode’s figures are up year-on-year – the same episode last year was watched by 7.7 million.
An insider for the show reportedly added to the Daily Star that Jordan is “bitter and twisted” when it comes to Strictly.
Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger have joined Simon Cowell on this year’s X Factor.
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Eddie Davis, 82, was thrilled his granddaughter was taking part in the BBC show and she has vowed to dance to some of his favourite songs to pay tribute to him, following his sudden death from a heart attack.
