2016 Strictly Come Dancing 14th Series Kicks Off Saturday Sep 03,2016

The launch night of Strictly Come Dancing was off to a sizzling start as the celebrity contestants were matched with their dance partners. 

Saturday night saw series 14 kick off with presenters Tess Daley and Claudia Winkleman 'fly in the cast' with a spaceship themed intro. 

The launch night also saw a performance by last year's winners Jay and Aliona, and performances from Rebecca Ferguson and Ollie Murs

As judges Len Goodman, Darcy Bussell,Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood looked on, the dancers opened the show to Nicki Minaj's Starships

Celebrity contestants Laura Whitmore, Louise Redknapp, Lesley Joseph, Robert Rinder, Claudia Fragapene, Melvin Odoom, Daisy Lowe, Greg Rutherford, Naga Munchetty, Tameka Empson, Danny Mac, Anastasia, Will Young, Ed Balls and Ore Oduba looked excited as they awaited confirmation of their dance partners

 Dancers Kevin clifton, Karen clifton, Natalie Lowe, Aljaž Skorjanec, Janette Manrara, Brendan Cole, Anton Du Bec, Joanne Clifton, Pasha Kovalev, Oti Mabuse and Giovanni Pernice were joined by new professionals Oksana Platero, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, AJ Pritchard, Chloe Hewitt and Gorka Marquez