Strictly's Nigel Harman emerges as early favourite to win as he and partner Katya Jones top the leaderboard during week one

Nigel Harman has emerged as an early favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing as he topped the leaderboard during week one on Saturday. The Casualty star danced to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and received universal praise from all four judges and received a score of 32 out of 40. Contender: Nigel Harman has emerged as an early favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing as he topped the leaderboard during week one on Saturday Flawless: The actor, 50, was proclaimed by judge Shirley Ballas as 'the one to beat' after he performed an outstanding pasodoble with dance partner Katya Jones Success: The Casualty star danced to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and received universal praise from all four judges and received a score of 32 out of 40 Viewers took to X/Twitter to praise Nigel for his performance with one writing: 'Nigel was amazing! I could just watch that Paso over and over again' Strictly: Week One Leaderboard Nigel Harman and Katya Jones - Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana - 32 points out of 40 Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin - Samba to Touch by Little Mix - 29 points out of 40 Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola - Jive to Can't Tame Her by Zara Larsson - 29 points out of 40 Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell - Foxtrot to All About You by McFly - 29 points out of 40 Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice - Viennese Waltz to Pointless by Lewis Capaldi - 29 points out of 40 Angela Rippon Kai Wrrington - Cha Cha to Get The Party Started by Shirley Bassey - 28 points out of 40 Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe - Cha Cha to Uptown Girl by Billy Joel - 28 points out of 40 Angela Scanlan and Carlos Gu - Tango to Prisoner by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa - 23 points out of 40 Eddie Kadi and Karen - Quickstep to Two Hearts by Phil Collins - 22 points out of 40 Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley - Cha Cha to Boom Shack A Lack by Apache Indian - 22 points out of 40 Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał - Quickstep to I'm On Top Of The World by Bobby Darin - 21 points out of 40 Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk - Cha Cha to Waffle House by Jonas Brothers - 19 points out of 40 Zara McDermott and Graziano Dr Prima - Cha Cha to Crush by Jennifer Page - 19 points out of 40 Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez - Waltz to Run To You by Whitney Houston - 18 points out of 40 Les Dennis and Nancy Xu - Tango to Don't You Want Me by Human League - 16 points out of 40 Among many stage credits Nigel has performed in Guys and Dolls in London's West End and Shrek the Musical, which he then went on to direct for the UK tour.