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Lisa Riley is unlikely favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing as she wows judges with cha-cha-cha

Lisa Riley swept straight to the top of the scoreboard as the first live performances of Strictly Come Dancing did little to disappoint!

This weekend saw the beginning of one of the most hotly anticipated shows of the year and with two Olympians, a pop Princess and a James Bond actor in tow, it was always bound to be a good’un.

But, it was soapstar Lisa Riley who stole the show as she won over the judges with an energetic routine on Saturday’s show.

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The former Emmerdale star and her partner Robin Windsor topped the scoreboard with their energetic cha-cha-cha and even won praise from the infamously hard-to-impress judge Craig Revel Horwood. He said: ‘Three words darling, you can dance!’

The other judges were keen to praise the pair too, with Len Goodman calling Miss Riley a ‘funky monkey’ and new judge Darcey Bussell adding: ‘I love someone who can take risks, that was an amazing end.’

 
The pair danced to Aretha Franklin’s Think and ended the routine with Robin jumping into his partner’s arms, resulting in a huge 30 points from the judges.

Lisa, along with gymnast Louis Smith, has emerged as the unlikely favourite to win the BBC1 show, which reached a peak audience of 10.2million – more than a million more than the last series, which averaged at 8.7million.

Girls Aloud singer Kimberly Walsh also impressed with her cha-cha-cha performed to Jessie J’s Domino, landing her with a respectful 28 points.

Silver medallist Louis Smith showed off his gymnastic skills during his performance and came away with 27 points.

Fellow Olympian and gold medallist Victoria Pendleton failed to impress though. The former cyclist found herself at the bottom of the scoreboard after forgetting most of her moves during her performance to Kylie’s Spinning Around.

As soon as the dance was over, the 32-year-old put her head in her hands and apologised to her partner Brendan.

New panel member Darcey Bussell attempted to lift her spirits, telling the brunette: "Victoria very impressive, there was so much dance in there, Brendan you gave her so much and considering the nerves took over and everything, I felt for you, I really did.

"But there's so much potential there, you can do it."

Len Goodman then added: "Well you were probably a bit like the first time you rode a bike without stabilisers, a bit wobbly but you got through it.

"You had a little incident didn't you and then your nerves took over, but Victoria you have got great potential.

"Forget this and move on."



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