Strictly featured its first same-sex dance last night

You know it’s autumn when Strictly is the highlight of your weekend. But while we’re always fans of the ballroom brilliance, last night’s results show gave us another reason to love the show.

In a spectacular opening to the show, Strictly’s professional dancers took to the floor to perform a group number to Believer by Imagine Dragons, which featured intense dancing, atmospheric lighting and, in a first for the programme, same-sex partners.

Towards the finale of the number, many of the dancers swapped partners to dance with someone of the same sex, including AJ Pritchard and Gorka Marquez dancing together at the back of the stage, while Karen Clifton and Katya Jones danced on a podium.

? Our #Strictly Pros are pure fire ? pic.twitter.com/qlHoaat45L

— BBC Strictly ? (@bbcstrictly) September 30, 2018

It was a progressive move for the show, which has received calls for same-sex couples to be allowed to compete for the past few years. One of the contestants this year, TV presenter Dr. Ranj Singh, who is gay, had previously said that he would love to be paired with a man for the competition. “I would value a time when same-sex couples could dance on shows like Strictly. It is incredibly important,” he said, adding: “We are making progress but I think there is still some way to go. It does take time, though we are heading in the right direction.”

The group dance proved incredibly popular on social media, with fans applauding Strictly for the choice of choreography.

Oh so #Strictly can do same-sex routines, now imagine if there was same-sex couples competing on the show! pic.twitter.com/li18n2eq9r

— Jonathan McFerran (@jaimcferran) September 30, 2018

https://twitter.com/StrictIyTV/status/1046464523274792960

All the same sex coupling made me so happy ??

— Holly Webster 🙂 (@HollyWeb26) September 30, 2018

Congrats to the dancers on another amazing performance!

Featured image: BBC