Eddie Kadi scores first 10 with Men In Black-inspired street dance on Strictly

Comedian Eddie Kadi and professional partner Karen Hauer have scored the first 10 of the Strictly Come Dancing series with their couples choice performance.

The 40-year-old said he had a “whole other level of respect for street dance” after performing on movie week to Men In Black, dedicating the dance to his family who migrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Judge Shirley Ballas, who awarded the first 10, said: “When you do something well, it needs rewarding. This was slick, it had style, it was edgy, it was entertaining, you found your groove.

“Everything that you love in dance you were able to bring today as a partnership, I absolutely loved it.”

The couple were beaten to the top spot on the leader board by one point after Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon and her professional partner Carlos Gu scored 35 for their Charleston from the film Damn Yankees, while Scanlon’s parents watched from the audience for the first time.

The professional dancers kicked off the show with a magical Disney-inspired medley – which included songs from Pocahontas, Frozen and red-haired Dianne Buswell leading the dance to The Little Mermaid.

Presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman began the third week with Mickey and Minnie Mouse to celebrate 100 years of Disney, while characters Goofy, Donald and Daisy Duck also walked out with the judges.

Movie week saw veteran broadcaster Angela Rippon channel Julie Andrews, with a cropped blond wig during her quickstep to Do-Re-Mi from the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical film The Sound Of Music, alongside professional partner Kai Widdrington.

“The studio is alive with the sound of music,” host Daly said, before the couple scored a total of 26.

EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier impressed with his hip action during his Romeo + Juliet samba, which judge Anton Du Beke described as a remarkable “doubled-jointed trick pelvis”, which scored he and Buswell 32.

Meanwhile Paralympic champion Jody Cundy, who only had two days of training after his prosthetic leg became infected, was at the bottom of the leader board after scoring 20 for his Viennese waltz with Jowita Przystał to the 2009 film Up.

Reigning champion Przystał said: “He had two days, he pulled it off, he said to me I want to perform because it means so much, I am super proud.”

Actor Layton Williams and professional dance partner Nikita Kuzmin, who received nines across the board in week two, scored 28 for their Grease-inspired Viennese waltz to There Are Worse Things I Could Do.

Revel Horwood said: “I think you came out with way too much attack – it became jagged and lacked grace.”

It remained a “special” dance for Ukrainian Kuzmin whose parents watched from the audience, saying: “I was really excited and I was really nervous but it just makes me feel like a kid, at the end of the day I’m just a kid from Ukraine who is just living his dream.”

Other movie week highlights included a Viennese waltz from actress Ellie Leach to the Disney film Encanto, a “magical” Bridget Jones-inspired rumba from actress Amanda Abbington and a Cabaret Charleston from broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

Love Island star Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima received 25 for their Puss In Boots pasodoble, as did actor Nigel Harman with his Batman-inspired jive alongside professional partner Katya Jones, both dressed in capes.

Struggling with her confidence after being in the dance-off, Nikita Kanda channelled 90s film Clueless for her jive with partner Gorka Marquez, but placed second from the bottom at the end of the night with a score of 21.

Last week, former Family Fortunes host Les Dennis was the first celebrity eliminated from the competition after he found himself bottom of the leader board.