Business As Usual

Sep 18, 2026 by Rob

Strictly returns tomorrow evening with a new presenting team, a raft of pro newcomers, and more changes than we’ve seen in years. Beneath the shiny new exterior, don’t expect the BBC’s favourite dance show to have changed quite as much as you might think.

For the first time possibly ever, we also head into the Strictly launch show not completely certain of the pairings. Don’t read on if you prefer to watch the show in blissful ignorance.

No surprise Dani Dyer (30) is teamed with Nikita again. Injury last year saw her withdraw prior to the live shows and adds to her narrative this year.

Nikita’s past final appearances have been with ringers, and Dani, while having plenty of dance experience in her background, will be more of a test for his teaching skills. In what looks a highly competitive field, Dani’s price of 4-1 is on the skinny side before we’ve seen anyone hit the Elstree dance floor.

Lawrence Robb (34) has landed a plum pro in Jowita who won the 2022 series with Hamza Yassin. He has a strong dance background lurking but must hope for kinder treatment than fellow Emmerdale actor, Lewis Cope, who was the victim of a dark arts special when taken out in last year’s quarter-final.

There is a significant height difference between the two and it will be interesting to see if the judges use that as a reference point for negative reinforcement.

This year’s Australian representative at Eurovision (finishing 4th), Delta Goodrem (41), looks like being paired with Kai. Delta’s got bags of charisma and Kai is towards the top of the list of Strictly pros never to have won the show.

Last year, he was paired with Vicky Pattison and, unexpectedly at the time, they ended up in the sniper’s crosshairs in week 8, which was seemingly part of the scorched earth policy TPTB applied getting fully behind Karen for the series win. Delta’s height (5ft 10 inches) suggests mastering fast Latin routines could prove her biggest challenge.

Winter Olympic skeleton gold medallist, Tabitha Stoecker (25), will bring a lot of agility to the competition having trained in gymnastics and acrobatics. The potential negative lies in the pairing.

If she is paired with last year’s winner, Carlos, this alone would be a red flag, with Oti Mabuse the only ever back-to-back winner. If it’s Mark Karmalita he has to overcome his newbie pro status.

Eastenders actress Lacey Turner (38) gets Vito which has to be viewed as a positive for her chance. Vito won in 2023 when partnering Ellie Leach and is definitely among the top male pros on the show. Lacey has the Sylvia Young Theatre School on her CV and Vito usually squeezes every last drop of dance ability out of his partner.

House of the Dragon actress, Bethany Antonia (28), is surprisingly paired with Nancy, after Nancy was previously announced as being benched for this series. That alone is curious, and Bethany is likely to be highly competent given her past experience in musical theatre. We can probably bank on plenty of production support for this year’s same sex pairing.

Former Love Island contestant, Cach Mercer (25), is this year’s ringer hiding in plain sight. He is essentially a pro who has built a career in commercial dancing and a huge social media following forged on showcasing his dance moves.

He is paired with pro newcomer, Maddie Ingoldsby, a British ballroom champion and the youngest pro on this year’s roster, aged 21. We can probably anticipate consistently outstanding routines, and Cach’s issue could be a long-standing one – ringers are a hard sell to the Strictly audience offering zero journey potential.

Big Brother presenter, Will Best (41), similar to Lawrence Robb, looks a natural fit with Strictly voters but he doesn’t have the dance training background of many of his rivals.

A further potential setback is, he will have to juggle Big Brother presenting duties with his stint on the show. He is paired with Dianne, who memorably won Strictly two years ago with Chris McCausland, which could be a recency setback. He does, however, have ‘journey’ potential.

Dog trainer Graeme Hall (59) gets Lauren, and Lauren has proved herself probably among the top three female pros on the show. Graeme looks teed up to be one of this year’s ‘surprise’ contestants as he has plenty of past dance experience in amateur competitions.

A powerful back story for him is that he had to stop dancing after having a stroke in 2019, doctors discovering a hole in his heart that required major surgery. That’s a feel-good narrative that could help fuel an unexpected series run for him.

Jaime Winstone (41), is paired with newcomer Cristian Priori or defending champion Carlos, and that doesn’t scream contender pre-lives. The show is sure to have plenty of fun with Jaime and Dani’s famous East End hard men dads, Ray Winstone and Danny Dyer, and creating some confected competition between the two, so Jaime may enjoy a stay of execution.

Dame Sarah Storey (48) gets Julian who was one of the break-out newbie pros last year when partnering Balvinder all the way to the semi-final, and surviving a record five dance-offs.

Sarah was born without a functioning left hand which will provide a test in the ballroom dances, in particular. An obstacle to overcome can also form part of a journey on the show.

Shaun Wright-Phillips probably has Alexis who made the final last year in her debut year. It’s a general rule pros who make the final the previous year are not in the producer’s plans to make the final the following year.

Former male football pros also have a poor track record on Strictly with a ceiling of sixth place (John Barnes in 2007; Robbie Savage in 2011). Shaun could have some moves in his locker and back-to-lay potential.

Celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton (43) looks one of the series likely also-rans partnered by Amy Dowden, and with no formal dance training background to call upon.

Gavin & Stacey actress, Melanie Walters (64), appears to have either Carlos or Aljaz. Being this year’s oldest contestant offers a feel-good narrative, and she may well have head judge Shirley in her corner.

Melanie is a highly qualified pilates instructor and will have a strong core, which is the foundation for dance, and she joins the list of possible surprises on this year’s show.

Last but possibly not least is John Nellis (33) who looks like he has an ace in the hole if paired with Katya. He will be a complete unknown to the Strictly audience and appears to have been drafted in by the show because of his huge social media following, creating football content on YouTube.

He looks a casting seeking to engage a younger audience which means TPTB will ideally want him to have a decent run.

To achieve such a huge following suggests he must have plenty of spark and whatever dance ability he has will be dragged out of him to the max by Katya, who remains the best pro teacher and creative choreographer on the show. It really was a travesty viewers didn’t get to see this routine reprised in last year’s grand final:

Katya looks overdue some kinder treatment and if looking for an outsider with back to lay potential he should definitely be on the list of possibles.

In other news it has been suggested Movie Week will now be in week two, which could mean we see Icons Week in week 4, prior to Halloween Week in week 6.

While we have a completely new presentation team for this series, and a cluster of newbie pros, the core production team remains the same, including executive producer Sarah James and director Nikki Parsons. That suggests it will be business as usual in terms of how the show is managed.

This will be series 24 of the show and the 18th year of Strictly analysis on entertainmentodds.com. Where has that time gone?

Strictly gallops watchers need to have their binoculars at the ready, poised to survey the group dance that traditionally closes the launch show.

Let the fun and games begin.