Strictly Come Dancing: Week One – Leaderboard in full

Take a look at the leaderboard for Strictly Come Dancing week one, where John Nellis was the surprise package.

Published:Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 21:13 UK by Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-Chief

The Strictly Come Dancing live shows got underway for 2026 tonight as the couples took to the dancefloor for their first live routines.

Social media star John Nellis – performing the penultimate dance with previous champ Katya Jones – was the surprise package of the night, topping the leaderboard with a score of 31.

Aussie popstar Delta Goodrem and partner Kai Widdrington also impressed, earning 29 for their Samba, while actresses Lacey Turner and Bethany Antonia also gained plaudets.

Click here to read what the judges had to say about each of the performances

At the other end of the scale, former footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips, Paralympics legend Dame Sarah Storey and Gavin & Stacey‘s Melanie Walters scored 15 points apiece.

The leaderboard in full:

Week One leaderboard
Pos.	Couple	Dance	Craig	Motsi	Shirley	Anton	Total
1	John Nellis and Katya Jones	Foxtrot	7	8	8	8	31/40
2	Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington	Samba	7	8	7	7	29/40
3	Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola	Cha Cha	7	6	7	7	27/40
4	Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu	Quickstep	6	7	6	7	26/40
5	Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley	Cha Cha	6	6	6	6	24/40
=6	Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita	Jive	4	6	5	7	22/40
=6	Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin	Samba	6	5	5	6	22/40
8	Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu	Tango	5	5	5	6	21/40
=9	Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystal	Paso Doble	4	5	5	6	20/40
=9	Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby	Quickstep	3	6	5	6	20/40
11	Will Best and Dianne Buswell	Samba	4	5	4	5	18/40
12	Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden	Tango	3	4	4	5	16/40
=13	Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon	Quickstep	4	4	4	3	15/40
=13	Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr	Cha Cha	2	4	4	5	15/40
=13	Melanie Walters and Aljaz Skorjanec	Cha Cha	2	4	4	5	15/40