Strictly Come Dancing 2016: Daisy Lowe, Laura Whitmore and Ed Balls get dance partners as new series begins

The fourteenth series of the dance competition just got underway
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Ben Travis3 September 2016

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing is underway – and the celebrities have been paired with their dance partners.

The BBC ballroom competition has returned for its fourteenth series, with the first instalment seeing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman reveal this year’s dancing duos.

Among the celebs taking this part year is model Daisy Lowe, who was put with dancefloor heartthrob Aljaž Škorjanec.

“I would like someone to be pretty tough with me and be quite hard,” she told Tess Daly.

“Someone that takes the mickey out of me and I can have a laugh with.”

After the duo were paired up in the pre-recorded episode, Škorjanec promised Lowe that he would bring “more laughs than toughness” in their three weeks of training ahead of the live shows.

Daisy Lowe and Aljaž Škorjanec 
BBC

Former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who seemed particularly nervous in the episode, was teamed up with new pro dancer Katya Jones.

“I expect the next few weeks will be really hard,” he said, joking: “But I do know what it’s like to be on the wrong end of a public vote.”

Strictly Come Dancing 2016: red carpet launch

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Elsewhere, TV presenter Laura Whitmore was paired with Giovanni Pernice, Olympic gymnast Greg Rutherford got Natalie Lowe, and singer Anastacia teamed up with Brendan Cole.

“I think this lot look fantastic,” said head judge Len Goodman, who will be leaving after the current series.

“The girls are all frisky and misty, the boys all powerful and perky. This is going to be a corker.”

See the full list of dance partners below.

Louise Redknapp – Kevin Clifton
Naga Munchetty – Pasha Kovalev
Anastacia – Brendan Cole
Laura Whitmore – Giovanni Pernice
Melvin Odoom – Janette Manrara
Greg Rutherford – Natalie Lowe
Judge Rinder – Oksana Dmytrenko
Danny Mac – Oti Mabuse
Claudia Fragapane – AJ Pritchard
Daisy Lowe – Aljaž Škorjanec
Lesley Joseph – Anton DuBeke
Tameka Empson – Gorka Marquez
Ore Oduba – Joanne Clifton
Ed Balls – Katya Jones
Will Young – Karen Clifton

The competition will continue in three weeks when the live shows begin – after the celebrities have had some time to get their dancing up to speed.

BBC One, 6.50pm

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