Yahoo News John Whaite and Johannes Radebe receive standing ovation for ‘tremendous’ same-sex Strictly dance
Chef and TV personality John Whaite received a standing ovation after making his Strictly debut with his professional dance partner, Johannes Radebe.
The 33-year-old made history with Radebe as the first same-sex male couple to appear in the competition, after Nicola Adams and Katya Jones danced together in the last series.
Whaite and Radebe made their debut dancing to a rendition of “Blue Monday”, and received rousing applause as they concluded their routine.
The judges were also full of praise, with the notoriously hard-to-please Craig Revel-Horwood saying he had “loved it”.
Whaite received the highest scores of the night at the time of writing, including 8s from Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke, which placed him at the top of the leaderboard.
Du Beke called the dance “tremendous”.
Whaite had previously said he was excited to dance with another man as “a great step forward in representation and inclusion”.
“I’ve been wearing sequins and jazzy attire since I was three years old and can’t wait to hurl myself, full throttle, around the most glamorous dance floor on earth,” he said. “Whoever it is I’m paired with, I hope they are up for a challenge as I want our routines to include lots of spectacular lifts!”
Strictly Come Dancing continues each Saturday on BBC One. See the full list of contestants and their professional partners here.
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