Strictly Come Dancing fans go wild after they spot surprise visit from ROYALTY in the audience

Strictly Come Dancing - why not on this Saturday
(Image credit: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

The whole nation has been taken over by Strictly Come Dancing fever this year - and it looks like even the Royal family are fans too.

As cricketer Graeme Swann and his partner Oti Mabuse opened the night with their Quickstep, eagle-eyed viewers were quick to spot Sophie, Countess of Wessex and her daughter Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor in the live audience.

Strictly Come Dancing

The royal mother, 53, - who's wife of Prince Edward - and her 15-year-old daughter were seen cheering enthusiastically and clapping along with huge smiles across their faces.

And fans rushed to Twitter to gush over the unexpected appearance, as one wrote, "Love that royalty are in the #Strictly audience tonight  #StrictlyComeDancing #strictly2018."

While a second asked, "Hang on a minute. Was that royalty in the #strictly audience?"

And they weren't the only ones...

The BBC then confirmed the exciting news in a tweet on the official Strictly Twitter, as they wrote, "It’s official #Strictly has the Royal seal of approval."

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the show, documentary maker Stacey Dooley managed to bag three 10s from the judges for her intense Paso Doble with partner Kevin Clifton.

Darcey Bussell said of her incredible performance, "You were fierce you were eating it up! You were dramatic, powerful, brilliant.”

And Bruno Tonioli could barely contain himself when he jumped out of his seat, saying: "What I found unbelievably impressive is you captured the style and the feel of the dance.

"You killed every bull that came into your path - it came in fantastically choreographed."

And when the scores were revealed, the emotional Strictly star collapsed in tears, with Kevin telling fans, "I am just so proud of this girl!"

After managing to compose herself, Stacey added, "Look, I haven’t won an oscar or anything but Kevin, I can’t begin to tell you how incredible you are.

"He’s just such a wicked wicked guy."