A pop star battling addiction issues made a comeback on a prime-time family entertainment show last weekend and immediately sparked concern that the rehab had not gone so well.

The shock was that the pop star in question was not Amy Winehouse. For while a sweating, bug-eyed Robbie Williams was scaring viewers of X-Factor, Winehouse looked comfortable and composed on Strictly Come Dancing.

Singing backing vocals for her cute-as-a-button goddaughter Dionne Bromfield, Winehouse stood up (almost straight), clicked her fingers and flung her arms about as she ooh, ooh-ed in front of an audience of 9.5 million ballroom dance fans.

OK, she was not moving exactly in time to the music, and the burly male singers who flanked her looked a little too much like minders for comfort. But for a woman whose past excesses made Pete Doherty look like Cliff Richard, this was a small step along the road back to the kind of popularity she enjoyed a couple of years ago.

And the moment she flung her arms around her beaming goddaughter and congratulated her with a kiss was genuinely touching, a reminder the singer has still got some soul.

Robbie Williams — please God by you.