Strictly Come Dancing 2026

[rider73]

Thought I would start this thread seeing as there are some pretty firm stories around the new presenter line up :-

emma willis and josh widdicombe at the front of the show
and Johannes as a pro dancer (and doing just the set pro dances, no partner) doing new behind the scenes sections , unclear if this is for the live show or for the newly revamped It Takes 2 (rumours are that its going to be more like The Traitors Uncloaked - a more casual chat with the stars, and various guests.

[andrewpandrew]

Out at dinner with my wife and several friends yesterday and this came up. Pretty much everyone said that Widdicombe would see them quit watching it. Despite being fairly ambivalent towards him, I do think he'd be an odd choice.

[rider73]

to be honest i wasnt that hopeful about Claudia bit she did a good job - i just dont know about Josh, i'd give him a go for a bit, i'm just not sure he brings much warmth like Claudia did

[Eric Mc]

As long as it's not Ann Widdicombe.

[rider73]

It's all official now.

[Adrian W]

Josh Widdicombe, the least funny, engaging or entertaining person on TV, his wife knows all the right people though.

[abzmike]

Slightly odd choice… housewives favourite?
He just needs a spangly jacket and it could all be a bit Alan Partridge.

[croyde]

Mmmmm, not sure about him. Emma will be great. She's lovely, I used to work with her, a long long time ago.

[AlexRS2782]

Janette Manrara has confirmed she's not coming back this year either - gave an interview stating she had little / no contact whatsoever from the BBC since last year about whether they wanted her back for It Takes Two so made the decision to leave. Sounds as though Fleur East is in the same position too.

Some of the celeb rags have suggested, although it's not been confirmed by BBC, that they're going "full reboot" with Strictly for this year in the hope it draws a line under the previous series scandals, affairs, accusations, social media tweets, etc, as well as to refocus the image following things like Masterchef, HE, etc. At the same time they're evidently going to be pushing to try and get a younger audience involved without supposedly alienating / losing the existing audience.

Either way, looks like a big gamble that's either going to work - like Bake Off going to C4 - or go badly wrong.

[rider73]

Yeah SIT2 I hear it's going to be more like traitors after show..... Podcast like

Not sure who would host though but I heard Nadia has some sort of involvement now she's not pretty of the main show outside of prodance pieces

[cuprabob]

rider73 said:

Yeah SIT2 I hear it's going to be more like traitors after show..... Podcast like

Not sure who would host though but I heard Nadia has some sort of involvement now she's not pretty of the main show outside of prodance pieces

For a split nanosecond there I thought you were meaning Nadia Hussain and not the lovely Nadiya

[cuprabob]

BBC News - Lacey Turner confirmed as first Strictly contestant
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg74gvy8lgjo

[cuprabob]

Dani Dyer announced.

[cuprabob]

3rd contestant is Delta Goodrem.

[Milkyway]

No doubt more ex footballers & athletes etc... must be a few racing drivers around.
(Nigel, Derek...)

[cuprabob]

No. 4 is Chris Appleton

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/strictly-co...

[abzmike]

Celebrity hairdresser (apparently).. famous on the internet...
The celeb barrel being scraped early.

[Milkyway]

abzmike said:

Celebrity hairdresser (apparently).. famous on the internet...
The celeb barrel being scraped early.

Got him for a snip.
I reckon that there will be a lot of 'celebs' saying thanks... but no thanks.

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 19th June 16:51

[rider73]

said:

Cut that out

[cuprabob]

No. 5 is Cach Mercer, no me neither, but I believe he's a previous winner of Love Island.