Strictly Come Dancing

Key

Notes

See also: List of Strictly Come Dancing contestants

Over the years, many dancers from the show have formed both professional and personal partnerships. Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova are married,[29] as are James and Ola Jordan[30] and Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara, who became engaged after joining the show in 2013 and were married in 2017.[31] Matthew and Nicole Cutler are divorced but remain professional partners;[32][33] Karen Hauer and Kevin Clifton were engaged when Clifton entered the show in 2013 and were married prior to the 2015 series, before divorcing in 2018, while Neil and Katya Jones entered the show as a married couple before separating in 2019. Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag have danced as a professional couple since 1997,[34] while Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace are former Argentine Tango world champions as a duo and have done multiple tours together.[35] Brendan Cole and Camilla Dallerup danced together for many years, including a stint in the original series of Come Dancing;[36][37] following their split in 2004, Cole and Katya Virshilas formed a professional partnership, before parting in November 2009.[38][39][40] Other current and former professional partnerships featured on the show include Dallerup and Ian Waite, Paul Killick and Hanna Karttunen,[41] Andrew Cuerden and Hanna Haarala, Brian Fortuna and Kristina Rihanoff, Rihanoff and Robin Windsor,[42] Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis,[43][44] siblings Kevin and Joanne Clifton,[45] AJ Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt, and Gorka Márquez and Karen Hauer.[46][47]

On average, dances last for approximately 90 seconds.[48] Musical accompaniment is provided by The Strictly Come Dancing Band.

From series 1 to 4, the results show was shown live on Saturday night one hour after the performances.

As of series 5, the results show is recorded on the Saturday night directly after the live show and incorporates the result of the viewers' votes, which are completed by 21:30. This was confirmed by the official BBC website in 2008:

The Sunday show is recorded on Saturday night but no element involving the results of the vote will start recording until after lines are closed and votes counted and verified.[49]

Throughout the Sunday results show, the presenters refer to 'Saturday night' in reference to the main show due to the timing of the Sunday programme, and the outfits of Tess Daly, Claudia Winkleman and the judges are changed to present an illusion of a second live broadcast.

For series 7, the Sunday results show was axed and put back to Saturday nights as a result of a revamp of the show.[50] It then reverted to Sundays from series 8.

A new system called the Dance-off, which takes place in the results show, was introduced in series 5. It continued until series 7, but did not return in series 8. It was then reinstated in series 10 and has remained a feature of the show ever since.

The Dance-off consists of the two couples who received the lowest totals that week from the combined judges' scores and public vote. The aim of the dance-off is for the couples to convince the judges that they deserve to go through to the following week's competition. Before they attempt their dance a second time, the couples sometimes get advice from the judges. The judges then decide which couple remains in the competition based on the dance-off performances. If three of the judges agree that one of the couples should be saved, that couple is through to the following week's competition and the Head Judge's vote is not counted. If one couple has two votes and the other couple has one vote, then the deciding vote is cast by the head judge, originally Len Goodman and currently Shirley Ballas. Afterwards, the eliminated couple perform one final dance — sometimes known as "waltzing out of the ballroom". The Monday after their elimination, they appear on It Takes Two to discuss their time on the programme.

On two occasions, the dance-off was cancelled; firstly, in series 14, in which one of the celebrity contestants, Anastacia, sustained an injury and was unable to compete in the Dance-off as a result. Under the rules of the show, the couple with the lowest combined total was eliminated. The second occasion in which the Dance-off was cancelled was in Series 20, again due to an injury sustained by Tony Adams. Tess Daly announced on the results show that Adams had decided to withdraw from the competition as a result of being unable to compete in the Dance-off.

During the run of Strictly Come Dancing, Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two is broadcast each weeknight on BBC Two. The series was previously hosted by Claudia Winkleman but, due to her pregnancy in 2011, she had to leave the series, and was replaced by Zoe Ball, who hosted the show from Series 9 to 18.[51] Rylan Clark-Neal joined as co-host in series 17. In May 2021, it was announced that Ball was to leave the show after 10 years, and on 10 June 2021, her replacement was confirmed to be former professional Janette Manrara.[52]

The show features reviews of the performances during the previous Saturday's show and interviews with, and training footage of, the couples preparing for the next show. The judges and other celebrities also provide their opinions on how the couples are progressing. It Takes Two replaced Strictly Come Dancing on Three, hosted by Justin Lee Collins, which ran on BBC Three during the first series. Prior to 2010, BBC Two Scotland aired the programme on four nights only, running its own Gaelic-language programming on Thursdays instead.

In May 2004, Strictly Come Dancing began its first series. This was the only series to air in the spring; all subsequent series aired in the autumn.

The second series began in October 2004. A new spin-off show — Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, presented by Claudia Winkleman — was created and has continued to air alongside each subsequent series on BBC Two.

The third series began in October 2005.

The fourth series began in October 2006.

The fifth series began in September 2007. The first programme was a preview of the new series before the competition began. In a change to the previous format, the results show was recorded on Saturday and broadcast on Sunday, rather than shown live later on Saturday. Additionally, the two couples at the bottom of the table after the public vote were subject to a dance-off, where they performed their routine againfor the judges, who decided which couple would leave the competition.

A sixth series was confirmed after the dancers' pay dispute was called off in June 2008.[53] The sixth series began in September with a behind-the-scenes look at the new series, while the first live show aired on 20 September.[54]

The seventh series began in September 2009. Alesha Dixon joined the judging panel, replacing Arlene Phillips, who moved to The One Show.[55]

The eighth series began in September 2010.

The ninth season began in September 2011. The couples were paired up for the first time on the launch show. This was the last series to feature Alesha Dixon as a judge; she left the show to become a judge on Britain's Got Talent.

Zoë Ball replaced Claudia Winkleman as host of Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two due to Winkleman having just given birth.

The tenth series began in September 2012. Darcey Bussell joined the judging panel, replacing Alesha Dixon.[56]

The eleventh series began in September 2013.[57]

The series started on 7 September 2014 with a launch show,[58] followed by the live shows starting on 26 and 27 September.[59] This series was the first not to be presented by Sir Bruce Forsyth after announcing his departure from the live shows on 4 April (he made his final regular appearance in this series' launch show). However, Forsyth would continue to present special editions of the show, such as Children in Need and Christmas specials.[60] It was announced on 9 May that Claudia Winkleman would join the main show as co-presenter and that her duties would mirror the existing result show format, with Tess Daly taking over Forsyth's role as main presenter and Winkleman taking Daly's role as co-presenter.[61]

It was announced on 1 June 2014 that professional dancers Artem Chigvintsev, James Jordan and Anya Garnis would not be returning for the new series, although Garnis would remain on the show's choreography team. It was also announced that Tristan MacManus and Joanne Clifton would be joining the show's professional line-up.[62] It was then announced in August that Robin Windsor had pulled out of the competition due to a back injury. Windsor was replaced by new professional Trent Whiddon.[63] In week three, entertainer Donny Osmond joined the four regular judges, making the maximum score that week 50 points.[64] Due to Winkleman's absence in weeks 6, 7 and 8, It Takes Two presenter Zoë Ball co-presented with Daly.

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its thirteenth series with a launch show on 5 September 2015, followed by the live shows starting on 25 and 26 September.

On 23 April 2015, the list of professionals participating in the thirteenth series was revealed. Professionals from the last series who did not return included Trent Whiddon, Iveta Lukosiute and Joanne Clifton. Clifton would remain involved in group dances and would feature on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two as a dance expert. Robin Windsor, absent from the previous series because of injury, also did not return for this series. Three new professional dancers were introduced: Russian dancer Gleb Savchenko (from the American, Australian and Russian versions of Dancing with the Stars), South African dancer Oti Mabuse (from Germany's Let's Dance) and Italian dancer Giovanni Pernice.[65]

On 3 October 2015, the judges performed The Strictly, a signature dance made up of some iconic moves from the show's history for fans to do at home when they hear the theme tune; subsequently, a tutorial for the dance was made available on the show's website and iPlayer hosted by Natalie Lowe and Tristan MacManus.[66]

Series 13 was the last to feature Tristan MacManus, Kristina Rihanoff, Ola Jordan, Gleb Savchenko and Aliona Vilani as professional dancers. Jordan later announced that she had quit the show, claiming that the results were "fixed". Vilani announced three days after winning that she was leaving the show; however, she participated in the 2016 live tour. Savchenko announced that he was leaving the show on 28 June 2016.[67]

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its fourteenth series with a launch show on 3 September 2016 on BBC One. This was Len Goodman's final series as head judge.

On 28 June 2016, the list of professionals who were returning for the fourteenth series was revealed. Professionals from the last series who would not return included the previous series' champion and two-time professional winner of the show Aliona Vilani, former professional winner Ola Jordan and two-time professional finalist Kristina Rihanoff, as well as Gleb Savchenko and Tristan MacManus. Joanne Clifton returned after a one-series hiatus. The leaving professionals were replaced by Katya Jones, Burn the Floor dancer Gorka Márquez and former Dancing with the Stars US troupe member Oksana Platero.[68] On 26 July 2016, three more new professional dancers — AJ Pritchard, Chloe Hewitt and Neil Jones, husband of new dancer Katya — were announced.[69] Hewitt and Neil Jones did not partner a celebrity as the professionals outnumbered the celebrities, although they were still in group dances and appeared on It Takes Two.

On 4 May 2017, it was announced that series 7 finalist Natalie Lowe would be departing the show. Five days later, on 9 May, Shirley Ballas announced that she would be replacing Len Goodman as head judge.[70] On 21 June 2017, Oksana Platero and the previous series' professional champion, Joanne Clifton, announced that they would also be leaving. The new professionals replacing them were Australian Open champion Dianne Buswell, Welsh dancer Amy Dowden, and Ukrainian two-time world champion Nadiya Bychkova. On 7 August, Nick Grimshaw announced that Mollie King was the first celebrity known to be taking part in the series. This was the first series to be broadcast since Sir Bruce Forsyth's death in August that year.[71]

On 30 January 2018, it was announced that Brendan Cole would no longer appear on the show.[72] On 30 May 2018, the full lineup of professional dancers was announced. Chloe Hewitt left the series and three new professional dancers — Graziano Di Prima, Johannes Radebe and Luba Mushtuk — were announced to be joining the show. This meant that there were 18 professional dancers, the most in the show's history.[73]

On 13 February 2019, professional dancer Pasha Kovalev announced that he was leaving the show after competing on it for eight years.[74] On 10 April 2019, it was announced that judge Darcey Bussell had left the show after seven years.[75] On 22 July 2019, Motsi Mabuse was announced as the replacement for Bussell. On 30 July 2019, it was announced that Nancy Xu would be joining the cast of professional dancers.[76] On 5 September 2019, it was announced that Jamie Laing had withdrawn from the show due to a foot injury. He was later replaced by Kelvin Fletcher. In late October, Will Bayley left the competition due to a sustained leg injury.[77]

On 6 March 2020, Kevin Clifton announced that he was leaving the show after seven years.[78] On 26 March 2020, AJ Pritchard also announced that he was leaving the show after four years.[79] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was confirmed that the series would be slightly shorter than planned.[80][81][82] Before the series began, the professional dancers and some of the crew isolated and tested for COVID-19 to then become a household. Strictly took over a hotel near the studios and the pro dancers learnt and filmed all the group routines for the series at once.[83] This allowed for the show to still include the professional group dances each week. On 21 August 2020, it was announced that Bruno Tonioli would not be on the judging panel but would appear virtually while he filmed Dancing with the Stars in the US. It was the first series since 2012 to begin in October.[84] On 12 November 2020, Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were forced to withdraw from the competition after Jones tested positive for COVID-19.[85] On 19 December 2020, Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse were crowned the winners of the series, making Mabuse the second professional dancer to win the show twice and the first to win it consecutively, following her 2019 victory. This series featured the first all-female and same-sex partnership of Nicola Adams and Katya Jones.

On 10 June 2021, it was announced that Janette Manrara would leave the show as a professional dancer and replace Zoe Ball as a new It Takes Two presenter. On 24 June, Anton Du Beke was announced as having joined the judging panel for this series instead of returning as a professional dancer, replacing Bruno Tonioli, who missed a second year due to continuing travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the remaining fourteen professional dancers from Series 18, all of whom returned for this series, four new professional dancers joined the show: Cameron Lombard, Jowita Przystał, Kai Widdrington and Nikita Kuzmin.[86]

This series marked the first time that two contestants withdrew from the competition. On 13 October 2021, Robert Webb withdrew from the competition due to health reasons.[87] On 17 December 2021, AJ Odudu was forced to pull out of the final after tearing a ligament in her right ankle.[88]

The series saw the first couple with a deaf contestant, actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and the first all-male partnership of John Whaite and Johannes Radebe.

The twentieth series began in September 2022.

The twenty-first series began in September 2023.

In April 2023, Rylan Clark announced that he was stepping down as co-host of It Takes Two. Fleur East was later announced as his replacement.[89]

Since the inception of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, several special editions of the show have been transmitted by the BBC each year. These have included seasonal specials, charity specials, and variations of the Strictly Come Dancing format.

On 13 December 2008, Strictly Come Dancing became the subject of press attention and viewer complaints about an error in the voting system during the semi-final of series six. In the show, three couples remained in the competition. After all three had performed and the judges had given their scores, two of the couples were in joint-first position on the leaderboard, while the third — Tom Chambers and Camilla Dallerup — were in last place. This meant that, no matter how many public votes were cast in their favour, it was mathematically impossible for the third-placed couple to avoid the dance-off. This oversight was initially unnoticed by producers until after the public vote became live and viewers were invited to call in and save their favourites at a cost of 15p per vote. Once the mistake was finally realised and the public vote was closed, it was announced that all three couples would be put through to the final, all the votes already cast would count towards the final result of the competition, and viewers could apply for a refund if they wished.[91]

The BBC received 1800 complaints about the incident,[92] while media regulator Ofcom received 297.[91] Jon Beazley, the BBC's Head of Entertainment Production, was interviewed on Strictly's spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on 15 December. He apologised for the oversight, referring to it as an "unprecedented situation". On the same day, the BBC posted a statement on its website, which clarified that an independent adjudicator had been consulted to reach a solution that would offer "fairness to the viewers who voted and the contestants themselves".[93] The BBC also stated that, following the mistake, "the voting and judging mechanisms used in all BBC voting programmes [had] been thoroughly examined".[91]

After conducting an investigation, Ofcom concluded that "the mistake had resulted from an oversight, rather than any shortcomings in the technical arrangements for voting or in the handling of votes received", and that they were "satisfied that appropriate steps were taken by the BBC and the disadvantage to viewers minimised". Ofcom also opined that "the BBC had been open and transparent with viewers about the mistake it made and the solution adopted".[91]

In June 2009, tabloid newspaper The Sun reported that the then 66-year-old judge Arlene Phillips, who had judged the show since its inception in 2004, was to be replaced by series five winner Alesha Dixon, then aged 30.[94] This was later confirmed by the BBC in July of that year.[95] Subsequently, the BBC was accused of ageism and sexism by several sources,[95][96] an accusation the corporation has faced before over the removal of several older female presenters, including Moira Stuart,[97] Juliet Morris,[98] Miriam O'Reilly,[98][97] Michaela Strachan,[98] Charlotte Smith[98] and Anna Ford.[99] The BBC denied the allegations that the decision to remove Phillips was due to her age.[95]

Furthermore, Dixon herself was criticised after the debut episode of the seventh series, the first to feature her as a judge. A total of 272 complaints were received by the BBC – bringing the total number about Dixon joining the programme to over 4000 – along with over 5000 comments on Strictly Come Dancing's internet message board.[100] Dixon was compared unfavourably to Phillips, with claims that the former was "unsuitable", "unqualified" and lacked "knowledge, experience and talent".[100] However, Dixon was praised and defended from her critics by the BBC,[100] by fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood[100] and by Phillips herself.[101]

In 2009, during the seventh series, professional dancer Anton Du Beke issued a public apology[102] for his use of a racial slur during a conversation with his dance partner Laila Rouass.[103] Du Beke claimed that the comment, which was never broadcast, was a joke referring to Rouass' spray-tan, in which he said that she "looked like a Paki".[103] Over 600 complaints were received by the BBC, including those about comments Bruce Forsyth, then host of Strictly Come Dancing, made about the controversy on a Talksport radio programme, in which he suggested that Britain "used to have a sense of humour" about such incidents, and that Du Beke's apology should be accepted.[104]

Following the incident, and Forsyth's response, the BBC stated:

Racially offensive language in the workplace is entirely unacceptable. Anton was right to apologise quickly and without reservation and Laila has wholly accepted his apology. Everyone is very clear that there can be no repetition of this behaviour.[104]

Forsyth also clarified his position:

What Anton said to Laila was wrong and he has apologised unreservedly for this. Nor do I in any way excuse or condone the use of such language. To be absolutely clear, the use of racially offensive language is never either funny or acceptable. However, there is a major difference between this and racist comments which are malicious in intent and whilst I accept that we live in a world of extraordinary political correctness, we should keep things in perspective.[104]

In 2015, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, Egghead CJ de Mooi said that he was turned down for the show because he had wanted to dance with a same-sex partner.[105] The BBC denied that de Mooi had ever been under consideration for the show,[106] and also declared that "Strictly is a family show and we have chosen the traditional format of mixed-sex couples".[105] The press has reported on the issue on numerous occasions when gay celebrities have appeared on the show, including Will Young,[107] Susan Calman,[108] Robert Rinder,[109] Richard Coles[110] and Ranj Singh.[111] Strictly Come Dancing judges Shirley Ballas[111] and Craig Revel Horwood[112] have both expressed their support for introducing same-sex couples.

Same-sex partnerships have been featured on several international versions of the show, including Austria (2011), Italy (2015), Australia (2019) and Germany (2019).[113][114][115] On 3 November 2019, Johannes Radebe and fellow professional Graziano Di Prima performed together to Emeli Sande's "Shine" on the Sunday results episode, the show's first individual same-sex dance.[116] On 2 September 2020, it was announced that boxer Nicola Adams would feature in the show's first same-sex couple for its eighteenth series.[117] She was partnered with professional dancer Katya Jones. In 2021, it was announced that John Whaite would feature in the first all-male same-sex couple with Johannes Radebe for the nineteenth series.[118] The United States version of the show would also have a same-sex couple that same year, with JoJo Siwa & Jenna Johnson. Series 20 also included same-sex partnerships with Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice in an all-male partnership and Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer in an all-female partnership. In Series 21, Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin are competing in an all-male partnership.