Strictly Come Dancing: How did Crawley-born Dan Walker perform on his Strictly debut?

BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker made his Strictly Come Dancing debut tonight.
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The former Hazelwick pupil danced a quick step with partner Nadiya Bychkova and sored a creditable 24 points after suprising the judges.

The 44-year-old, who left Crawley when he was 18, showed some promising skills on the dancefloor as the pair danced to Everybody Needs Somebody to Love from the Blues Brothers.

And he got some great compliments from the judges.

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Anton Du Beke said: "I was a bit nervous about this I thought you were going to be awful. But you were terrific. I love your energy, you covered the floor. Brilliant."

Craig Revel Horwood was negative saying, 'I cans see you mouthing the counts' but added 'I was pleasantly surprised'.

Motsi Mabuse said: "That was not a perfect quickstep. But what I loved is you risked something, you came out on the dance floor and gave it your best. This is the first week and if you keep that up and put that back together you are gong to be a shining star."

Head judge Shirley Ballas said: "You need some essential ingredients, you have the height and I have never seen a neck that long in all my life. You have very very long arms and very long legs so from point A point B, the width, the volume the prospect is unbelievable. Great power. Yes you made some mistakes but you picked them up and you carried on and you made it work."

Dan WalkerDan Walker
Dan Walker
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And he managed to score 24 out of 40 with Craig giving 5, Motsi 5, Shirley 7, and Anton 7.

When interviewed by Claudia Winkleman after the dance:, Walker said: "You know what, 10 days ago I spent most of my life terrified of dance floors because I am tall and awkward but this amazing woman [Nadia] has enabled me me to do that in 10 days. It's truly incredible and she deserves all the praise for not making me look like an idiot out there."

He dedicated the dance to Louise Minchin, who left BBC Breakfast recently, saying: "That was actually for Louise Minchin. She left the show last week. Louise that was for you, we miss you, we love you and wish you all the best away from the sofa."

He added: "On the first day I said to Nadia if we get double figures I would get her a present, so I have to sort that out."

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Former Strictly pro James Jordan tweeted: "Dan BLOODY LOVE HIM! A bloke that has clearly never dance before but I tell you what he has something special. He has a personality on the floor. What he lacked in technique he made up with energy. He’s a little bit like a daddy long legs at time but he has massive potential 6."