GLITTER, sequins, plenty of sparkle and an innuendo or five waltzed in to Wembley for a dazzling show.
The Strictly Come Dancing Live tour had all the old favourites and features of the BBC shows and wowed the crowds at Wembley Arena.
After a nail-biting win for Abbey Clancy and Alijaz Skorjanec during the competition which finished shortly before Christmas people were keen to get their Strictly fix for the long months without the show ahead.
Dancing fever had also gripped the former contestants as the celebrities were back for more and enjoying every minute of glamming and hamming it up in front of a huge live audience.
Contestants, Abbey Clancy, Deborah Meaden, Susanna Reid, Nicky Byrne, Ben Cohen, Natalie Gumede and Mark Benton, performed dances from the series and judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli, scored them ahead of an audience vote over text.
Winners on the night were Natalie and Artem Chigvintsev, and Strictly devotees were treated to a dance from this pair which had not appeared on the BBC programme as the Coronation Street star had fallen ill.
Although admittedly not a devotee the highlights for me were Susanna and Kevin Clifton, for their pure energy and Mark and his partner Iveta Lukosiute for the huge dollop of comedy.
Lisa Riley, a popular contestant on the 2012 show, hosted the live event, which at times did feel slightly scripted.
Len Goodman was full of his usual charm and cheeky innuendos, with more than one reference to his walnuts, and the ladies (and men) were treated to a gyrating Bruno with shirt barely there at the close of the show.
The show was given a seal of approval by my mum, a devotee with almost groupie credentials, but the only criticism was that she had seen all the dances before during the television programme.
The show ended with one huge number at the end with the audience encouraged to get on their feet.
This could have been done at the beginning with a dance-along (or shuffle-along as space was quite tight) to get people going and rev up their enthusiasm like Len when a scantily-clad dancer wiggles their hips his way.
