Strictly celebrates best-ever viewing figures for launch show

He said: “I’m not wearing any sequins, and no glitter, it’s all very classical”.

Mr Balls has said his Labour politician wife Yvette Cooper had advised him against doing the Rhumba because it would be “appalling”.

Model Daisy is with Aljaz Skorjanec, who won Strictly with model Abbey Clancy in 2013.

Meanwhile a show insider told the Daily Star that Jordan is “bitter and twisted” over Strictly.

Never one to hold his tongue, James – who was axed from the show in 2014 – offered his opinions on the new series, with him already tipping Louise Redknapp and Kevin Clifton for the final.

TV star Judge Rinder is with Oksana Platero and Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane with fellow new Strictly pro dancer AJ Pritchard. He will be joined by Craig Revel-Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Darcey Bussell as they cast their judgement over this year’s crop of celeb contestants.

The 14th series of the popular Saturday night show landed 10.1m viewers at its peak and and average of 9.3m.

The 14th series of the ballroom dancing show, which beat The X Factor in the ratings a year ago, officially goes live in three weeks.

Strictly’s success comes in stark contrast to the dwindling popularity of one of Simon Cowell’s prime-time hits, The X Factor, which suffered its lowest launch ratings in 10 years on 27 September.

ITV’s launch show last weekend was watched by 6.8 million (34% share) and peak of 7.5 million.

Saturday night’s third X Factor episode of auditions was beaten by Strictly, although the rival shows were not broadcast at the same time.

Strictly proved more popular than The X Factor, which attracted 8.3m viewers.

Strictly Come Dancing’s co-host succeeded Jonathan Ross on the revamped BBC1 film programme in 2010, alongside film critic Danny Leigh.

However, The Great British Bake Off, which averaged 13.6 million viewers in its launch episode on 24 August, remains the most watched show this year.

Reviewing his debut on the BBC Andrew Marr Show, Balls admitted that the black tie outfit he was poured into during the episode made him “look like the guy who’s about to serve the drinks”.