Strictly Come Dancing 2022: Shirley Ballas suffers technical blunder while scoring Tyler West

Strictly Come Dancing 2022 kicked off its first live show in style on Saturday, with all 15 couples taking to the floor to perform their first ever competitive dance of the series. 

However, despite a fabulous start, the show hit a technical hitch as Shirley Ballas’ paddle failed to match the board while scoring Tyler West and his partner Dianne Buswell.

In spite of the issue, radio DJ Tyler earned a standing ovation from his favourite judge following his emotional American Smooth to to Falling by Harry Styles, which featured a stunning Angel lift.

Commenting on Tyler’s performance, Shirley said: ‘Any girl would feel very safe doing lifts with you’, before adding that ‘the atmosphere you created was stunning’. She then want on to give him tips on his footwork.

Shirley was so impressed that when it came to the scoring, she attempted to give him a 7, but on screen said a different story as it came up with 6 points. 

Amid rumblings of confusion in the crowd, host Claudia Winkleman was forced to clarify Shirley’s score, with the judge admitting she made a mistake amid her excitement, before confirming that she scored 7 points. 

Kicking off the show was Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima, with the pair looking fabulous in bright yellow ensembles while dancing an energetic Jive to Yes by Merry Clayton

Commenting on the performance, head judge Shirley Ballas enthused: ‘What a way to open the show!’ before adding that she thought the former Coronation Street star  ‘did remarkably well’

Anton Du Beke told Kym that it was ‘absolutely wonderful’ and that he ‘really really loved it’. The dancer went on to praise her for her technique, saying that it made the routine look so clean, but warned her to work on her spins.

Ever the pessimist, Craig Revel Horwood got his first boos of the series as he moaned that it was ‘all a bit sluggish’, telling the star she needed ‘more energy’ and needed to be up on her toes more.

However, on a positive note, he added that he didn’t agree with Anton, saying that her spins were very good.

While Motsi Mabuse remarked that she looked ‘comfortable’ on the dancefloor, and asked her to bring the confidence and the energy for her next dance. 

Kym and Graziano’s first dance of the series earned them 23 points.

The dazzling series opener kicked off with a colourful carnival-inspired dance from the professionals set to Chaka Khan’s Ain’t No Body, before they were joined on the dancefloor by the judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke.  

While hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman descended from the ceiling on a fabulous feather-adorned float while showing off their dance moves. 

It comes after the postponed launch show finally aired on Friday after being delayed due to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

It had originally been due to air on September 17, but had been postponed due to it being just two days before the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which took place on September 19. 

The United Kingdom was placed in a period of mourning on September 8 after Buckingham Palace announced the Queen’s passing, with much of BBC’s schedule filled with rolling coverage of events leading to her funeral.

And Strictly ensured it kicked off the series with a bang as the 15 celebrities finally found out who their professional partners were. 

Among the pairings, reigning champion Giovanni Pernice formed one of two same-sex pairings this series, as he took to the floor with Richie Anderson.

While comedian Jayde Adams will perform with Karen Hauer.

Elsewhere, Helen Skelton was paired with Gorka Marquez after becoming a last-minute addition to the show, while Katya Jones has been partnered with footballer Tony Adams.

The series opener also featured two incredible performances from the Strictly professionals, as well as the return of reigning champion Rose Ayling-Ellis, and a music performance from John Legend who performed his new single All She Wanna Do.

Joining Claudia and Giovanni on the sofa ahead of their comeback dance, Rose told how it was ‘lovely’ to be back on the show while expressing her shock that it had been a year since she took part.

She added that training for her return dance with Giovanni made her realise how much she ‘missed’ training with him, while the Italian hunk added that the few hours they danced together once again was ‘magical’.  

This series will be the first in three years to be broadcast without Covid measures, which forced bosses to introduce restrictions including ‘bubbles’ for training and limited audience numbers.

Series 20 of Strictly will see its stars celebrate 100 years of the BBC with a special themed week this year.

To mark the centenary, the Strictly couples will either dance ‘to a theme tune from an iconic BBC programme or in tribute to one of the BBC’s most-loved services’.

The anniversary show is also set to feature two special routines by the professionals – one will honour the BBC’s Natural History Programming unit, while the other will see the dancers ‘crashing’ some flagship shows.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.