Strictly 2025 : Post Series Debrief And Christmas Special

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

In case anyone wants to keep chatting

What a lovely Christmas show! I just enjoyed it all, and it was full of warmth and positivity. Jodie was brave, wasn't she?
A great festive watch.
Of course Tess and Claudia can be replaced. Judges have been, Brucie was, It'll just be a slightly different show.

Nicholas was absolutely lovely, agreed.

I don't usually watch the Christmas show as the quality of dancing is generally not as good even for a week 1 performance. However, I knew a fair few names and I know that Scarlett was already a ballroom amd Latin dancer, so watched it this year.

I think I preferred the Christmas contestants to this year's main series ones, and wouldn't mind seeing some of them in the next series.

Nicholas was my unexpected favourite, and Luba was clearly having a lot of fun too on the Eastenders set. Definitely a strong candidate for being a contestant for 2026.

I really don't want Street commercial or Theatre Jazz to replace the traditional 10 dances on Strictly. Get rid of Couple's Choice and leave that to the Show Dance!

Scarlett was technically very good and knew what she was doing. She deserved her win, but she wouldn't be popular on the main show, so I hope for her own MH, she doesn't end up on the main show as a contestant.

Bye Tess and Claudia. End of an era indeed.

Nikita is on Celebrity Mastermind!

Heads up! BBCFOUR is showing the final of Come Dancing 1978 at 7:00 tonight. Nothing you watch this year will be as good.

How lovely. Thank you.

That was fun. It was AJ Pritchard's dad doing the quickstep for the Midlands and West.

Enjoying this so much as I'm watching it late. It feels so clean and clear compared to Strictly

I saw the tour show tonight. Good fun, some of the dancers were still dancing their hearts out. Ellie was in her element!

Ellie is an absolute queen, I really liked her on SCD. It was the way she responded “yes I know” in her exit conversation with Tess when Vito paid her a compliment. No fake modesty!

Ah, can’t upload the video of Ellie or LaVoix

I see they’re culling a few pros for the next series. Gorka, Luba, Michelle and Nadiya have already been dropped.

Will really miss Gorka but not a surprise he's been dropped with that scheduling conflict. Nadiya and Luba have had their time. Sorry for Michelle. When she was benched last year I did wonder if the BBC were worried a major scandal was about to drop concerning her former celeb partner and didn't want the risk of it overshadowing a new pairing. Feel sorry for her if her Strictly career has been derailed because of a taint by association.

Can't understand why they wouldn't take this refresh as a way to cull Neil, Nancy, Amy and Karen. (I like Karen but she seems to have checked out choreographically a long time ago.)

Even as an Aljaz fan I thought it was a mistake to bring him back but I thought he was back on form with La Voix. He just needs a partner who isn't desperately dull, leading him to overcompensate.

Maybe more drops will be announced, it seems they’re doing it gradually. I agree about Neil and Karen. I really like Katya but I think she’s been in it too long now.

I suppose it’s difficult with Amy under the circumstances, it wouldn’t be a good PR move to drop her.

Has this been officially confirmed or just something The Sun has "leaked"?

Sounds fishy to me, they don’t even do the contracts until the summer or so I thought?

It hasn’t been officially announced but it’s been widely reported as factual by quite a few news titles

seems it’s been leaked after a meeting on Friday https://metro.co.uk/2026/03/08/strictly-come-dancing-star-distraught-axed-shows-biggest-shakeup-date-27301640/amp/

My first thoughts about Alexis and Julian was how safe they were. I think that they both can dance - Alexis is amazing - but they're both relatively chill, apparently devoted to their other halves and, well, safe.

Alexis was great with George and coaxed the best out of him, and Julian looks like the reverse of someone who could bully and push like the accusations that have been flying around. He got Balvinder through six dance offs without disintegration.

I've wondered for a bit if they're going to use the opportunity to shake things up and go for less backstage drama. If they're going for safe and non-threatening, Katya may be on shaky ground, though it's been a bit since her big scandal.

I think Gorka has had a good run on the show and although I’ll miss him I think it’s time he moved on. I really like Luba and it’s a shame she never had a partner regularly. I feel sorry for Michelle as she didn’t have a long run. As for Nadiya I don’t really have an opinion but she just never seemed to be popular with the fan base.
I agree with @nomdegrrr1 I love Alexis and Julian and they were a great addition last series.

Surely they'll hang on to a few longstanding favourites for a bit - eg Katya, Karen, Diane. Too much change too quickly risks turning Strictly into a different show and alienating the solid fan base.
Sad for Luba, I’d like to have seen her with a partner more often.

I’m not really surprised Gorka’s moving on given his role on Spanish Strictly. I’ve never really liked Luba so not bothered she’s going - she seems very nice but I’ve never been particularly excited by anything she’s done on the show. Same with Michelle really but she’s not had long to prove herself so that does seem a shame. I am disappointed Nadiya won’t be back - but while she is clearly a fabulous dancer she’s never really got much out of her partners. Hard to know if that’s down to her or not.

I hope they don’t get rid of too many more - don’t want a whole show of new dancers!

Luba didn't have much personality and I literally can't remember any of her partnerships. I did like Nadiya so sorry to see her go. Poor Michelle has never had much of a chance.

Obviously Gorka has other irons in the fire so that's less of a surprise.

I'll miss Gorka, but he clearly has a lot else going on, so good for him. Not bothered about Michelle. I like Nadiya and think they tried to give her the 'blonde bombshell' role to her detriment. When she was with, was it Dan Walker, they seemed to have a huge laugh. Her personality really came out.
Luba hasn't been given good partners so she can shine, or 'bad' partners (for want of a better term) of the sort where a pro gets to show their caring or funny side more. I still remember her pro dance to a song from Evita; she was stunning.
I'd like to see, if anyone, Neil go. He just doesn't seem to add anything. I actually like Nancy, although I don't think she's a favourite on here. Amy: tricky. She's a boring choreographer (sorry Amy) but I like her. And as someone else said, it'd look bad if they booted her out now. I also adore Karen, but agree she seems to have checked out, although not so much with the choreography as with the enthusiasm. She is electric though with the right partner and in pro dances.
I loved Aljaz with La Voix – really brought out his humour. I think he's kind and funny with the older partners he gets sometimes too. I'd like to see him stay.

I can't bear Luba and think that one's long overdue. Gorka also past his sell by date, Nadiya never did anything special though looked gorgeous and poor Michelle is a bit of mystery - she never really had a chance. But there may well be stuff going on behind the scenes we don't know about.

I don't see how they can dump Amy though she is dull. Karen has looked bored for years now. Neil is a waste of space and always has been. Nancy doesn't do it for me. Hope they keep Katya and Diane - can't see the latter going anywhere - esp having just had a baby. Alexis I haven't warmed to but she did well last year so I imagine would stick around ... Julian seems a bit wet.

I really liked Julian. He feels safe in a good way. In the live show, he really gave it his all- with joy and added extra- when some were dialling it in.
Though he does merge in my mind with Stephen Mangan!