The multi-award winning BBC show launched its new series on Saturday, with 15 celebrity contestants meeting their professional dance partners for the first time.
Stars of this year’s series include actors Lewis Cope and Stefan Dennis, sports stars Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Chris Robshaw, and Thomas Skinner from The Apprentice.
Viewers saw five of the celebrities waiting at St Osyth Priory to find out who their dance partners would be.
BBC – Karen Carney was matched with Carlos Gu(Image: PR)
Model and actress Ellie Goldstein, who became the first model with Down syndrome to feature on the cover of Vogue and appear in a campaign for Gucci, waited in the formal gardens of the priory before meeting her partner and former Strictly winner, Vito Coppola.
EastEnders actor Balvinder Sopal, who plays Suki in the BBC soap, was paired with dancer Julian Caillon.
Shakespearean and TV actor Alex Kingston greeted flamboyant dancer Johannes Radebe outside the priory while TV personality and broadcaster Vicky Pattison was filmed in Darcy House as she met dance partner Kai Widdrington.
England footballer and Lioness Karen Carney was paired with dancer and choreographer Carlos Gu.
Aerial shots also showed the priory’s scoping grounds and gardens as well as the exterior of the estate.
Essex – Vicky Patterson was paired with Kai Widdrington in Darcy House(Image: PR)
Speaking about the venue’s involvement in the show, William Grinsted, managing director of St Osyth Priory Estate, said: “Everyone was so nice and it was great to have them here.
“They seemed to be having a good time and they were laughing and chatting with each other.
“We have had historians filming here before and, of course, TV presenter George Clarke, who officially opened the restore Gatehouse.
“But having Strictly to film here was the pinnacle. The estate looked amazing and we are hoping it will lead to more opportunities.”
The priory was founded shortly after 1120 as a house for Augustinian canons and was given to Thomas Cromwell.
After his execution in 1547, it was passed to Princess Mary and then to the 1st Lord Darcy of Chich.
St Osyth – Johannes Radebe was filmed outside the venue(Image: PR)
Lord Darcy was responsible for transforming the monastic remains into a substantial country house between 1553 and 1558.
Elizabeth I visited St Osyth Priory twice on her Royal Progress in 1561 and again in 1579.
The Sargeant family bought the estate in 1999 and began a major restoration of the 16 listed buildings.
As a result, a multi-million pound schedule of works on the priory estate has secured the future of one of the largest collections of ecclesiastical buildings in the country.
It has also given the estate a viable economic future as a venue for weddings, corporate events and holiday accommodation.