Who doesn’t love some friendly competition? For decades, reality competition TV has dominated our channels, providing us with friendly rivalries that we can follow along with week on week. Whether through dance, singing, cooking, baking, sewing, you name it, it probably has a talent series—these series grab audience attention and keep us coming back for more as we root for our favorites and watch their journey evolve.
Dancing with the Stars has become unmissable TV for many viewers in the US and overseas. There's something undeniably compelling about watching stars evolve and improve in an art form as complex as dance—it keeps us coming back year after year. The UK’s equivalent to DWTS is about to make a major return.
Strictly Come Dancing is the UK’s longest-running dance competition. Opening doors to the ballroom back in 2004, it has been going strong ever since its debut and isn’t slowing down. The BBC hit is set to return very soon with a new line-up of talent ready to take to the dance floor. Here is what you need to know.
This month, the show that brings fake tan and sequins to the masses returns to BBC One and iPlayer. There has been a major shake-up this season with Strictly Come Dancing as the two long-running hosts of the show, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, have stepped down as hosts and will pass the baton to Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe. There have been no changes to the judging panel this year.
There are set to be fifteen contestants on the series going head-to-head as they battle through various rounds, some themed rounds, of different dances to proceed one step closer to the coveted Glitterball trophy. Popular themes that are likely to return include Halloween, Movies, and Musicals; couples will be given one traditional style to learn, such as the Waltz, Tango, Samba, Rumba, and American Foxtrot, among many others. Couples will also be able to dance their choice in the "Couples' Choice" category, with options ranging from street and jazz to breakdancing.
Talents include Dame Sarah Storey, Graeme 'The Dogfather' Hall, Lawrence Robb, Delta Goodrem, and Dani Dyer, to name a few. There are always last-minute changes or surprises with Strictly, so it is best to keep up to date with all of the action on their official social media pages. There will be thirteen weeks of the season for fans to enjoy, which follows the usual pattern from previous years.
As always, there will be a special launch show before the main action that will see contestants paired up with their professional dancer. Five new talented dancers are joining the cast this year: Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby, and Mark Karmalita. This series will be as exciting as ever, as our Saturday nights are about to get a whole lot sparklier.
Strictly Come Dancing starts this month on BBC One and iPlayer.
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