Stunning photo on the front page of the Telegraph

Laura and Giovanni's Cha Cha Cha to 'Venus'.

Having watched a few more times I'm even more impressed with the performance Laura gave and also struck with her rhythm and timing, expressive upper body movement and how well she'd learnt the routine. She looked like she was having a great time however nervous she was!

I liked Giovanni's choreo, content packed, and that he's challenging her from the first week because he can see how much potential she has. Strong connection between them on the dancefloor, constant eye contact and they've clearly gained that trust

Loved Laura's dress and whole look, she really is beautiful . . . from Star Wars casual to Strictlified

Team Lovanni on the dancefloor.

Laura and Giovanni's backstage reaction after they danced . . . I love that her Irish accent gets stronger in the euphoria and relief of the moment

Some backstage photos from last night . . .

Laura and Naga compare frocks.

Giovanni shows off his abs to Laura and Richard Curwen

Laura with Daisy, Tameka and Claudia.

With her other Joe

I quite enjoyed this, especially as I expected to be a bit annoyed by Laura.

They look great together as a dance pair, and I liked that Giovanni put in so much content.

She obviously isn't a dancer and doesn't have the technique, but that's not what I expect of Strictly. I quite like it when you can see someone's an amateur but really giving it a go and enthusiastic about dancing, which is the feeling I got from her.

Looking forward to what they do next.

Good morning . Totally agree with everyone, it would have been very difficult going first and I thought Laura faired well. I watched with a few friends of mine and all of them agreed that Laura danced a cha cha with some mistakes and Ringer (Robert) just danced moving his hips. Why give a particular dance for the week, when some couples are allowed to have minimal content, ridiculous. I expected Craig to over mark Ringer.

As I said before the hypocrites were posting some ridiculous comments on Twitter.
What is sad is that these Georgia fans who can't accept Giovanni dancing, let me repeat, dancing with Laura are just putting people off Georgia more and more.

Now for good news, they made the front page of a Saturday Torygraph, that is big.
What people don't realise is that women wear short dress and you can notice their mistakes, where as men with trousers can hide some sins.

I was disappointed and I didn't get to see Mick on the VT. If they can show wifes and kids, why niot Mick??

I really loved Laura's confidence, it takes gumption to open the show and she had it in spades. Lots of charisma too, I look forward to seeing her ballroom.

I do agree with you here!!
It is very unfair on Georgia who has been nothing but gracious & enthusiastic about the pairing as well as being horribly unfair on both Laura and Giovanni!!
A solid start from them last night, any problems shouldn't be too difficult to iron out!! Wishing them luck for future weeks!!
Sidles off back to the GG thread!!

Good morning, Ohcre . Thanks for all the links, really beautiful.
Check where Greg is looking in that picture with Naga and Laura.
Naga and Laura looked stunning last night.

Agree with you Lamballe, Laura is full of charisma

Can't wait to find out what their second dance is, I'd like to see Laura do an elegant Waltz as a contrast and to see a different kind of performance from her but a fiery Tango would also be exciting.


Hi Sarah

Ha ha I noticed that too Laura, Naga and Daisy's dresses were my favourites.

I'm a bit bemused by the social media comments on scoring in relation to Laura and Judge Rinder to be honest, Laura danced more content with less gimmicks and gave a strong performance too. I thought the overall leaderboard was about right at the end of the night. Not keen on the scoring ties though, hopefully there won't be too many couples tied by the end of next week's show.

Loved that Laura got her 'Sev-ern' from Len

She danced with so much confidence which was great to see. I thought she'd be far more rabbit in the headlights.
Her legs were a bit wild at times but then they're impossibly long On the whole I thought she was great and the routine sizzled.
So sad that the tabloids ... plus various Twitter trolls ... have got on her case mainly because she's dancing with Gio. It's pathetic!
Hope it doesn't ruin her Strictly experience.

Dissapointed by the lack of Mick! Re the dress, the first thing my mum said was 'that dress will show her legs too much!' Meaning she won't be able to hide any mistakes as easily. I agree about Rinder, he's a showman for sure but he did very little actual cha cha compared to Laura, who definitely looked more nervous and unsure but she was on first and had more actual dancing to do AND couldn't hide her legs in Trousers! Plus I don't know why but I just find Rinder a bit annoying, he tries a bit too hard perhaps? He'll either grow on me or I'll want to throw things at the screen!

good afternoon, well I'm a huge fan of Giovanni - as you can see by my location - but maybe Laura should have been paired with Brendan which would have been better height-wise, anyway I really hope he and Laura do well, strange to see him with another partner but I'm sure I'll get used to it


thank you, named after the Stones' song, of course


I agree, I couldn't help but fall under Giovanni's spell. but I did enjoy all of Jay's dances


hi NDD yes, I think Laura did well last night as it must be so nerve wracking to open the first show of the season, as others have said her top half was fine and I think they'll look really good together in the ballroom dances

I didn't know anything about Laura before Strictly but she seems very nice and hope they both get far in the competition

I've just been over on Twitter, and Laura was apparently interviewed on the radio this morning - RTE, but I'm not sure whether it's possible to listen now.

Brendan has also posted a little video of himself, Giovanni and a couple of others on the way to the studio singing an Anastacia song - sorry, not sure how to link that either.

Anyway, it's out there if anyone knows how to do it.

Ha ha, thanks for the heads up StrictlyRed, here's Brendan and Giovanni's version of 'I'm Outta Love'

(Bottom right click on the three dots then 'Copy link to Tweet' )

Thanks. I seem to manage ok with photos on Twitter, and videos on YouTube, so I don't know why videos on Twitter sometimes seem to be beyond me!

BIB - Pathetic is an understatement, I really feel sorry for the people whose lives revolves around the comings and goings of a celeb couple who have split.

Can't understand these people either. Could never imagine getting involved in the love lives of people that I don't know.

It is bewildering, I mean everyone loves a bit of a gossip but some people just take it too far!

I was also surprised that there was not even a glimpse of Mick. Like I said before, if wives and children can appear on the VT, why the pet dog??.

BIB - I also found him very annoying and I don't think he will ever grow on me.
I have a feeling that some demographic are going to be voting for him and sure to be there until the semifinal,

I'm never someone for telling people what they should and shouldn't post but this is a place to appreciate Laura and Giovanni and their dance partnership and it's probably best if the GG breakup and related social media fallout discussion is left elsewhere

Please!

Maybe I'm just too easily swayed but I felt happy with Laura's first dance. She seems very *there* if you know what I mean. She gave a lot of herself in the dance and I think it's going to be a great partnership.

I also enjoyed Rinder for completely different jaw-dropping laugh-out-loud reasons.

The two cha chas were my favourite performances

Sorry I did comment but I do agree with you Ochre

This is about Laura and Giovanni.

Sorry, Ochre

I haven't seen Laura tonight.

I've seen her a couple of times on the balcony smiling and applauding.

I don't know how I missed it. I was looking forward to seeing her in that dress.

Laura and Gio interview

Mick gets a mention too