Strictly Come Dancing live: Week one dances in full swing as Amy Dowden returns after cancer treatment

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Strictly Come Dancing has returned to our screens for the first live show of the series.

The new season kicked off last week with a dazzling pre-recorded show to mark the beginning of its 20th anniversary series after months of scandal surrounding the programme’s professional dancers.

However, the pressure will rise this week as the 15 celebrity contestants perform live for the first time before the voting – and first elimination of the series – happens next weekend.

This week’s routines include three cha chas, two foxtrots, two tangos, two sambas and a Viennese waltz.

Comedian Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell will perform a cha cha to “Twist and Shout”’ by The Beatles, with TV doctor Punam Krishnan and Gorka Márquez performing the same style to Kylie Minogue’s “Love at First Sight”.

Former Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž  Škorjanec will also dance a cha cha to Sabrina Carpenter’s summer anthem, “Espresso”.

As announced last week, former Arsenal/England player Paul Merson will be paying homage to his sport by performing the intriguing combination of an American Smooth to the popular football chant song “Vindaloo” by Fat Les.

Gladiators star Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe will be foxtrotting to “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” by Dinah Washington, while Olympic Hockey player Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin are also performing a foxtrot to The Supremes’ hit “Where Did Our Love Go”.

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Tango-ing this week are Olympic swimmer Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova dancing to Harry Styles’s “Golden”, while Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones perform to Madonna’s “Ray of Light”.

In the samba corner are Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu, dancing to Stevie Wonder’s “Do I Do”, and Wynne Evans and Katya Jones performing Tom Jones’s “Help Yourself”.

TOWIE’s Pete Wicks and his partner Jowita Przystał will be performing what will likely be a fiery paso doble to “Breathe” by The Prodigy.

EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas will dance a Viennese Waltz to Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” and JLS’s JB Gill and Amy Dowden will perform a classic waltz to “When I Need You” by Leo Sayer.