GLITZY! Strictly Come Dancing, BBC One, 6.30pm
It feels like a long time since we last met with Bruce, Tess and the dancing pairs – perhaps because The X Factor has been back for what feels like forever already. I think I speak for most people when I say that it’s good to see Strictly Come Dancing back on our screens, although I’m less excited about the silly Saturday rigmarole the BBC and ITV put us through of having to watch one, tape one, or flick between the two Saturday night ‘extravaganzas’. Fortunately, there’s none of that tonight, because the live dance shows start next week, and instead we have a shorter programme, talking us through the runners and riders.
We have some new pro dancers this year (and have very publicly seen the back of some of the others), and MORE! CONTESTANTS! THAN! EVER! including the usual mix of soap stars, sports people, TV presenters, pop stars and, erm, ‘other’.
At this early stage, I predict the ones to watch will be Jodie Kidd, Mark Foster and Rachel Stevens. I’m usually wrong about these things, but after Elbow won the Mercury on Tuesday, and I backed a winning horse at my first ever races on Thursday, I seem to be channeling Nostradamus this week, so it might be worth having a punt on one of them.
