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Strictly Ellie’s already a cha-cha-champion!

Claudia hails ‘sassy’ Paralympian as she gets standing ovation

By Katie Hind CONSULTANT EDITOR SHOWBUSINESS

PARALYMPIAN Ellie Simmonds made Strictly history last night when she became the first person with dwarfism to appear on the BBC show.

And the 4ft-tall swimmer wowed judges by overcoming the challenges of dancing with a partner – Nikita Kuzmin – who is more than a foot and a half taller.

Dressed in a sequined skirt and gold throw, Ellie won a standing ovation from the audience and 26 points from the panel, which put the pair joint sixth on the leaderboard.

Head judge Shirley Ballas told the 27-year old that her cha-chacha to Dance by DNCE was ‘beautiful’, while Anton Du Beke told her that her performance was great.

Speaking afterwards, Ellie said: ‘I was so nervous. It was so, so tough but I want to do it again. I absolutely loved it.’

After host Claudia Winkleman told her she was sassy, Ellie said she had to look up it up in the dictionary. ‘Now I know it means cheeky,’ she said, laughing.

Last night, actor Will Mellor and Countryfile’s Hamza Yassin ended joint top of the leaderboard with 34 points each.

Mellor jived to Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin with partner Nancy Xu, while Yassin and Jowita Przystal did the foxtrot to Islands In The Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.

When she revealed she was paired with Kuzman before the series started, Ellie tweeted: ‘Literally buzzing! Cannot wait to do this Strictly journey with you!’

The swimmer, who won two gold medals as well as a silver and a bronze at London 2012, added: ‘Nikita and I said we’ll just see how it works. It’s figuring it out each day as it comes. He’s learning about me. He has never done this before.’

This year’s line-up includes both male and female same-sex couples. In previous years there has been only one.

At the bottom of the leaderboard was former footballer Tony Adams and partner Katya Jones with 15 points for their tango to Go West by Village People.

Before the show Adams joked that the ‘Strictly curse’ prompted his wife to encourage him to take part.

He says whisky heiress Poppy Teacher, whom he married in 2004, teased him that after two decades together she was ready for a change.

The 55-year-old former Arsenal and England defender said: ‘I think she’s trying to get rid of me. That’s why she pushed me into doing the show.

‘She said to me, “I’ve had enough of you! It’s been 20 years now, please, please off you go.”’

Other celebrities taking part in the series include actress Kym Marsh, Loose Women presenter Kaye Adams, comedian Ellie Taylor and former Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton.

‘It was so, so tough but I want to do it all again’

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2022-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/281513640022309

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