Strictly Come Dancing will be returning in the first week of September, introducing the biggest line-up in the show's history to mark a special milestone for the BBC.
Since its first TV appearance in 2004, Strictly Come Dancing has become a national favorite thanks to the excitement and thrill it brings about to the viewers. Throughout the show, celebrities and professional dancers work in pairs and strive to win the coveted Glitterball trophy with their performance on the dance floor. In each episode, the dancers would receive scores by combining marks from the judges and the votes given by viewers.
Strictly has become so successful that its format is now widely recognized and has been exported to 60 different countries. Named the most successful and popular reality television format by the Guinness World Records, the BBC show is approaching its much-awaited TV comeback.
And much to fans' delight, it has been recently revealed that the 20th season of Strictly Come Dancing will be hitting the British TV screens very soon. Below is everything you need to know regarding the start date, confirmed contestants, professional dancers, judges, and presenters of the show's 20th series.
Strictly's release date
According to National World, the award-winning show has confirmed that the filming will kick off on Wednesday 7 September, before first publicly released on 17th September.
The show's bosses have so far made a clear statement:
‘Dust off your dancing shoes, Strictly Come Dancing is back!’
They added:
'The stunning 20th series returns, bringing glamour and show-stopping dancing back to Saturday nights on BBC One – and we’re extremely excited to be able to welcome an audience back to the studio for this year’s shows.'
Even though we have caught a grasp on the time the show will come back, it is still unclear about the time we can see it on BBC. Last year, the series started on Sunday nights at 7:45 pm, but the exact time slot Strictly will air remains a mystery.
Celebrity line-up
As the most anticipated part of the show, this year's celebrity contestants line-up consists of many famous names in the entertainment industry. They are Will Mellor, Kym Marsh, Richie Anderson, Kaye Adams, Jayde Adams, Ellie Simmons, Matt Goss, Ellie Taylor, Tyler West, Fleur East, James Bye, Hamza Yassin, Helen Skelton, Tony Adams, and Molly Rainford.
There will be 20 professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing 2022, which marks the biggest pro-line-up in the show's history. Apart from the regular faces we have watched over the years, this series is introducing four brand new dancers: Vito Coppola, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakle, and Michelle Tsiakkas.
Presenters and Judges
The show will welcome back Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as presenters in the 20th season. The pair has been presenting the show since the beginning series in 2014.
Being responsible for scoring paired contestants, the powerful judges for the UK series this year will be Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood, head judge Shirley Ballas, and Anton Du Beke.
In the previous year, the 19th season marked many special milestones and brought huge surprises for the audience. It was the first time we saw a couple with a deaf contestant, actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and the first all-male partnership-John Whaite and Johannes Radebe. These two couples had both devoted excellent performances and reached to final. The winner was named Rose Ayling-Ellis and her partner Giovanni Pernice. Besides, the series witnessed two couples withdraw from the show both due to health problems.
Read more:
⋙ BBC's Helen Skelton reportedly signs up for Strictly 2022 following bitter split
⋙ Bros singer Matt Goss confirmed as eighth Strictly Come Dancing 2022 contestant
⋙ Strictly Come Dancing announces two celebrity contestants for 2022 series
⋙ Strictly Come Dancing rumored line-up: From football icon to Olympic gold medalist
