Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour – First Direct Arena Leeds

CELEBS we all know and love whirl around the floor with their barely-dressed professional partners.

Judges from the TV show go wild with pantomime glee and rude jokes they couldn’t say on the TV show.

And we the audience get to vote for the winning dance pair each night of the national tour with our mobile phones.

But, as this hugely enjoyable spectacular returned to Leeds last night, the real star of the show was presenter Mel Giedroyc.

The star of the Great British Bake Off, a self-confessed Strictly superfan, she’s the perfect host as seven past TV contestants done the sequins again for murder on the dancefloor.

Whether joking with contestants about pelvic floors, drooling over dance hunk Gleb or joshing with the judges, she brings a hilarious comic in touch to one of most polished productions on the live circuit.

Meanwhile out on the floor, stars like Georgia May Foote, Helen George and Ainsley Harriott reprise their best TV routines On the first night in Leeds it was gratifying to see the joyous Anita Rani deservedly beat the TV winner Jay McGuiness.

David Knights