Strictly Come Dancing: Rhys Stephenson’s co-star told him ‘don’t turn up’ at wedding

Strictly: Claudia catches up with Rhys and Nancy after first results

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CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson has been putting his best foot forward to impress the Strictly Come Dancing judges in recent weeks. After a stellar performance on Saturday night with professional dance partner Nancy Xu, Rhys admitted to Strictly host Claudia Winkleman why his former CBBC co-star Katie Thistleton hopes he “can’t make it” to her upcoming wedding. 

Rhys, 27, was the first celebrity contestant to be awarded a top score by Strictly Come Dancing’s judges on Saturday night.  

After Rhys’ high energy performance, host Claudia Winkleman asked him and his dance partner, Nancy Xu, what they thought about judge Motsi Mabuse awarding them a 10. 

They were given the impressive score for their Spider-Man inspired commercial routine. 

Mabuse praised Stephenson’s “swag, energy (and) gorgeous smile” before giving him the first 10 of the series with the routine scoring 37 points in total.

Following the scoring, Claudia said: “Rhys, I am going to be blunt with you, I have never seen a reaction like that to a 10 in my life. Have you recovered?”

Rhys quipped: “I’ve had my juice, and my sugar levels are back up, and I am feeling good. Thanks for asking Claudia.”

Claudia then changed the topic to a wedding invitation and asked: “So, your old co-host at CBBC [Katie Thistleton] is getting married. What did she write on the invite?”

Katie, 32, is best known for her work across the CBBC channel, but she now presents a show on BBC Radio 1 with co-host Vick Hope. 

Rhys explained: “Yeah, so my old CBBC co-presenter Katie Thistleton invited me to her wedding at the end of the month. 

“But in the invite, she said, ‘It’s for love but I really hope you can’t make it because it’s on a Saturday’.”

In other words, Katie is hoping Rhys will continue to impress the Strictly judges and go as far as possible in the competition. 

Speaking to the camera, Rhys said: “So Katie if I cannot go, I love you and I hope you have a great wedding and I really hope I can’t make it.”

Rhys, who grew up in Romford, east London, admitted he was late to jump on the Strictly bandwagon. 

He said the first time he watched the BBC show was in 2015 when he became hooked.

When he recently appeared on Steph’s Packed Lunch, he told host Steph McGovern how much he was loving the Strictly experience. 

He said: “It’s going well, it just consumes you, Steph. Nothing else matters in that moment you just want to get those moves but it’s great when you get it it feels amazing.”

He added: “We do the routine and I think, ‘There are no notes here she’s going to love it,’ and then she goes, ‘Here are five notes, you’ve got five minors.’ As long as there are no majors it’s fine. 

“Nancy is a taskmaster but that’s what I want – she looks at every little detail because she believes I can do it so I believe I can do it.”

Will Rhys and Nancy be able to achieve another 10 from one of the judges when they perform this Saturday night?

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday at 6.45pm. 

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