So now we know Russell Grant will be recycling Widdy's outfits on Strictly

Strictly Come Dancing is back. Saturday’s live show saw 14 celebrities introduced to their professional dance partners. CLAUDIA  CONNELL was watching...

Everybody is thinking the same thing so, darn it, I’m just going to come right out with it: if Russell Grant has recently lost ten stone then what the hell did he weigh before?
There, I’ve said it and I feel curiously unburdened as a result.  
That was my first musing after watching the Strictly launch show on Saturday night.

Comedy pairing: Russell Grant with partner Flavia Cacace

My second was to marvel at just how many nips, tucks and implants there were in one room: Boob jobs, facelifts, Botox – there was more plastic at TV Centre than you’ll find in a Tupperware factory.
At the start of every single series head judge Len Goodman declares it to be ‘the best line-up ever’.
Well, pickle my onions, I think he just might have a point this time.

Looking for romance: Chelsee Healey

For series nine, the BBC has gathered together a brilliant troupe of wannabes, has-beens and never-quite-made-its and the show will be all the better for it.
Big stars have nothing to prove, but for minor ones it can be a matter of career life or death and watching them slug it out in sequins for the next three months is sure to be great entertainment for the rest of us.  
On Saturday, we got to meet the 14 celebrities and find out which professional dancer they had been paired with.
Nancy Dell’Olio lucked out by being teamed with Anton du Beke, the most popular professional dancer.
Whether Anton is quite so lucky remains to be seen.
Nancy’s performance in the group dance was a little unsteady but whatever she lacked it certainly wasn’t confidence.
‘I am the second most famous Italian next to Sophia Loren,’ she informed the audience.
Well, that’s Leonardo da Vinci and Pavarotti told.
Nancy, my dear, with Bruno Tonioli on the judging panel, not to mention dancers Vincent and Flavia, you’re not even the most famous Italian on Strictly.
But it’s these kind of comments that will make Nancy one of the most watchable characters of the series along with Edwina Currie, another formidable dame, who was partnered with Vincent Simone. It’s normally the very tactile Vincent that is forever flirting and fawning over his partners.
But if frisky Edwina doesn’t calm down, it will be him slipping  Bromide in her sherry before the competition proper starts in three weeks’ time.
Anita Dobson seems to be the older contestant to watch.
Slim, elegant and immensely likeable, she was just about the only female celebrity to show any flair or timing during the group dance.
There was, however, an unintentional comedy incident when the camera panned to the audience for a glimpse of her husband Brian May. Unfortunately he’d been placed under a blue spotlight which shone directly down on his trademark poodle hairdo and, for a brief moment, it looked as though Anita was married to Marge Simpson.
As well as meeting the celebrities we were also introduced to the newest professional dancer.
Every now and then one of the old crowd gets packed off back to the salt mines to make room for some fresh muscle and this year it comes in the toned, honed,  six-pack shape of Siberian Pasha Kovalev. He was teamed with a very excitable and buxom Chelsee Healey, an actress from Waterloo Road.
After seeing her in a low-cut sequinned mini dress all I can say is that it’s not just her name that sports a couple of double Es.
Good Lord, the girl made special guest Dolly Parton look a  little deflated.
At times, Chelsee seemed to have confused Strictly Come Dancing with Match.com as she didn’t miss an opportunity to shout about the fact she was  single and ‘looking to mingle’.
Brace yourselves for this year’s Strictly romance.
And speaking of Shout, I wondered how long it would take before Lulu roared ‘WEEELLL’ down the camera at us.

Confident: Nancy Dell'Olio and Anton du Beke embrace while Vincent Simone looks on

Answer: 0.1 seconds. Has the woman ever given an interview in the past 40 years without bursting into song?
Before the line-up was officially announced, rumours abounded that Pamela Anderson would appear.
She didn’t but with his tanned skin, highlighted hair and bleached teeth, producers found the next best thing in super-vain former footballer Robbie Savage.

Ones to watch: Actress Anita Dobson and former footballer Robbie Savage

He even revealed that his hair and teeth were ‘the two most important things in my life’.
A gem of information that will have given his wife and children a warm glow inside, I’m sure.
But, as Sir Brucie pointed out – with Russell Grant on board, we all know where the laughs will be coming from this year.
We also know where all of Widdy’s old outfits will be going.