Birmingham took a starring role on Strictly Come Dancing tonight as the first live episode aired, with beautiful scenes of the city played to millions of viewers. Birmingham-born actress Bethany Antonia was properly introduced to fans of the BBC show, and the city got lots of mentions as the show broadcast live for the first time of 2026.
Bethany, 28, who grew up in Quinton and attended the Birmingham Ormiston Academy, is best known for playing Lady Baela Targaryen in House of the Dragon. She impressed the judges with her first dance with partner Nancy Xu on Saturday night, as one judge even hinted she might well lift the Glitterball trophy at the end of the series.
City scenes and local pride
As Bethany prepared for her first dance, viewers got a glimpse into her background as they filmed scenes in Birmingham city centre. She was seen speaking from the canals on Gas Street basin, close to Brindley Place and Broad Street, with shots featuring the Tap and Spile pub.
Bethany said: "Growing up in Birmingham I always wanted to be an actor...my family made me think that I could do anything I wanted." After finishing her quickstep with Nancy, fellow Brummie Emma Willis cheered her on, telling Bethany: "You have done Birmingham proud, well done."
Emma Willis, born in Sutton Coldfield, has taken on the role of co-presenter this year with Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe after Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly departed last year. Professional dancer Lauren Oakley, also a Brummie, has been putting celebrities through their paces since 2022.
Judges' verdicts and leaderboard
The judges were seriously impressed with her performance as she instantly rose to the top of the leaderboard at that point in the show with 26 points from the judges. Motsi Mabuse seemed to have her picked out as a winner, saying: "I absolutely loved it - that was my favourite number up to this moment so far. When I speak to you guys I'm speaking about details and that tells me you're already on a different level. I'm not going to jinx it so I'm not going to say more, but keep going."
Head judge Shirley Ballas was stunned, sharing: "I did not expect to see that sort of frame in week one, that's something you probably see week 4/5." She added that her "footwork was so much better than I expected on week one" and that there were some small details to improve on, but added "you are going to be something else".
Further praise and next steps
Anton Du Beke said: "That was super duper. You did both roles there you did the leaders position and the followers position." He particularly raised her "immaculate line as the leader" before telling her she needed more of a curve when in the follower position.
For a change it was Craig Revel Horwood who jumped to Bethany's defence, telling Anton off for the negativity. "Picky, picky, picky - that's the first bit of good dancing we've seen all night!"
You can catch up on the first week of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC iPlayer. Week two will air on BBC One next Saturday night.
