Saw the pic but I never even gave it a thought when I heard what they are dancing to

Not very observant me

That's what you call hiding a clue in plain sight!

Reminds me of the time Jay posted a pic of himself standing next to the Zoltar machine, a month or two before he was announced as appearing in Big the Musical!.....

Far too subtle for me I can't believe this but I am going to miss tomorrow night's show Mr Black and I are going to a gig .... something we do about every seven years or so. I booked the tickets so only have myself to blame I won't be able to watch until Saturday afternoon but, on the plus side, I will have about three hours of Strictly on Saturday

Absolutely LOVE the music choice for Laura and Giovanni

Seems as though Laura has a new venture after Strictly.

http://www.independent.ie/entertainm...-35069712.html

Oh excellent, that looks good. Love this bit at the end of the article:

"The best part is that all the contestants share a WhatsApp group so we can confide and compare aches and pains and worries. The camaraderie is so important and I feel so lucky to be sharing this experience with such lovely folk," Laura said.

Thanks for the link StrictlyRed, what an exciting opportunity for Laura

Great photo Laura posted with her 'Not Dead Enough' script.

Pic of today's rehearsal in the Strictly studio, Laura and Giovanni are top left . . . and a group selfie

1 day to go!!

Good luck to Laura and Gio ... Hope they do well and that Laura can settle her nerves!

Me too daziechain . . . it's show day!!!

Lovely photo of Laura with some of the Strictly 2016 girls

Got so excited when I watched this teaser clip of their Cha Cha Laura posted

She's got it, yeah baby, she's got it

Fingers crossed for Laura and Giovanni tonight, can't wait to see them on the dancefloor.

Good morning, Ochre Thanks for the links. Your first live Strictly show, on this forum.
I am surprised you had stayed away this long. I might not be on this forum tonight,
so I will toast now "May this be first of many more ..... Cheers"

Love it Ochre

I can't believe how excited I am about tonight

Cheers Sarah *clinks mug of tea*


I'm jumping like Laura

Thanks for that little glimpse of Cha Cha.

Not enough footage to tell how it will turn out, but as I said before Laura's movements look very easy and relaxed. She is quite tall in those heels, probably the same height or maybe a tad taller than Giovanni. However, good pros will know exactly how to deal with that and they should look great together on the dancefloor, as they seem to be developing a lovely fun partnership.

Not long to go now until we find out!

Plus I think Gio was just in socks in that pic, if he's in Latin shoes he'd be a bit taller! Plus they're a similar height that's not really a problem IMHO, the real issue is drastically different heights, I know traditionally/aesthetically the woman is 'supposed' to be shorter but IMHO a man whose the same height or even a bit shorter than the woman is much less awkward than a man whose A LOT taller!

A toast to Laura . . . love the Team Lovanni cupcake And the telegram, what a lovely touch and special memento to keep.

This little vid was posted on Twitter.

Laura and Giovanni are dancing first!

https://twitter.com/bbcstrictly/stat...90127114158080

Gosh that'll be a test of her nerves! I'm even more excited for the start of the show now, go Team Lovanni! Laura looks gorgeous

Must be so nerve wracking going first but maybe good to get it over and done with

I thought that was good for a first dance.

Laura gave a fabulous performance! Really enjoyed them. She has lots of potential, beautiful arms. No she didn't quite have the leg technique but on that point Cha Cha's a good dance to get out of the way in Week One.

Laura and Giovanni make a stunning couple on the dancefloor. And a sev-ern from Len 25, good start

Thought she showed great promise! Bored of the main discussion thread already - expecting Italia Conti standard from a presenter. I think she'll keep improving!

Very good first effort from Laura. Hopefully she will go far.

Not sure what Giovanni had in his hair, though.

Loved it! Had more proper cha cha than judge Rinder Imho! She did look nervous and it showed a bit but for first on in the first week it's understandable

Just catching up, thought she was really dazzly and promising and, if she felt nerves, she hid them beautifully.

God I've missed Giovanni.

I've missed this show!

I liked the golden laurels in Gio's hair for Venus and for Laura. It's almost like wardrobe thought about it

Blimey she was nervous bless her. Good first outing just needs to work on bottom half as I think darcey said

Agree I thought it was a really good first start, it must be so nerve wracking to go first.

And they've made the cover of the Daily Telegraph
https://twitter.com/bbcstrictlypr/st...24572106018817