Julian's the real star of the Strictly Come Dancing tour

Thank goodness for Julian Clary! He brought the extra sparkle that was needed to the first night of the Birmingham leg of the Strictly Come Dancing tour.

And he did it by making the NEC audience laugh with his hilarious ripostes to the judges. That, and doing a spirited samba while wearing a bright yellow, ruffled shirt and shaking diamond-encrusted maracas.

He tried to get local support by claiming (falsely) to be a Brummie.

"I'd really like to win because I've never won anything in my life, since I was born in Birmingham 28 years ago," he claimed, before attempting a terrible local accent.

"I was born in Ladywood, a lovely spot."

That seemed to tickle presenter Kate Thornton, who kept repeating "Ladywood?" as if he'd invented the area for his own comic purposes.

We were with Julian when he called judge Craig "a miserable old trout", as he looked like he was sucking a lemon most of the time. And was it just me, or was Craig wearing eye shadow?

It reminded me how amusing Julian can be. Why don't we see him more often on TV?