Strictly 2026 : THE LAUNCH SHOW 19.25hrs How will our new presenters fare ? NO SPOILERS

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

A shiny new thread for a shiny new series. Please bring your dancing shoes over here.

Not sure whether I am doing weekly threads or not yet. Yet to decide, but I’m doing one for the first episode anyway.

The preshow chat thread has been quiet and I’m wondering if lots of people aren’t watching due to the departure of Tess and Claude. I have my reservations about the new presenting team but I’m willing to give them a chance.

KEEP DANCING 💃

It didn’t seem like a swipe to me, just an inoffensive suggestion as to why Claudia might be happy to take time off - and who could blame her.

Indeed! Bit snippy from pp

Well, this site is full of people criticising anyone who is perceived not to 'earn their keep', so TBH I don't think it's outlandish to assume.

It definitely seemed snipy to me. She was the highest paid female BBC employee, so doesn't need to worry if her husband is a high earner.

I’m sure that Claudia Winkleman will do other shows and so on, but even if she is putting her feet up , so what ! They have a family and all the rest of it. I’m sure she won’t be idle !!

Its hard not to expect them to slot into the old format isn’t it - but I saw somewhere Johannes saying to stay tuned bcos it’s not what you’d expect & that’s part of the fun/change of it all - or something like that.

Based on Saturday I think they’ll rotate

I still would have preferred some brand new unknowns to lead the show. I'm sure there are a million to choose from

We were out on Saturday so I caught up on Sunday. I really enjoyed it. The group dances were great and the pairing up process was miles better than in previous years. Also we're straight into the competition next week instead of a three week gap this year so should be interesting.

I also think it will be good if they rotate around the tasks. Much less formulaic and it did suffer from that before!

I don't think it would be realistically possible to rotate the Tess role between these three. I heard someone in the know talking about it and they reckoned it's really difficult - so much can go wrong or change without warning and they have to be able to cope with all that whilst appearing perfectly calm and keeping everything strictly to time, in the right order, etc etc. I can't serious see JoJo or Josh being able to do that.

I suspect you're right @Sereine the main anchor probably needs to be consistent in a live show, but perhaps there will be less focus on the Claudeauditorium, with JoJo and Josh doing more chat elsewhere

Wasn't there 3 presenters when Bruce was presenting, tess and Bruce downstairs and Claudia up ?

No. Claudia didn’t do the lives. She did ITT. Tess was backstage.

Claudia did not start presenting Strictly until after Bruce’s retirement in 2014

Ah thanks , obviously some misremembering. I was sure it was Bruce's last year though .

I think Josh would be fine as on ‘The Last Leg’ he’s used to thinking in this feet, ad lib etc. and interacting with people, as well as responding to autocues/people talking through earpieces. Not so sure about Johannes.

Edit - sorry, that was in response to @Sereine

It’s weird, you aren’t the only one who has said that! Mandela Effect! Natasha Kaplinsky did the role when Tess was pregnant.

It is obviously all the information just blurring into one thing!

True, but that's meant to be a bit ad lib, and funny. Strictly is more serious, although light hearted.
Im genuinely keen for it to work, it needed a shake up, so let's give it a whirl 🪩💃🕺

I think Josh will bring the comic relief when needed - he is quick witted, doesn’t make the comedy about himself, sexual innuendo or a stupid persona -more fast observations in the here & now. He’s def best when not trying to be funny & just off the cuff. So I think for the demographic & tone of the show he’s a good fit. Maybe once the new format beds in & we understand their roles more it will click. I’m just pleased it’s back on though - keen to see the dancing & hopefully some good trajectories!

We usually post the songs and dances and don’t consider it a spoiler so here we are :

“Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu – Quickstep to Stop This Flame by Celeste
Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington – Samba to Baiana by Barbatuques
Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu – Tango to I Feel Love by Donna Summer
Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola – Cha cha to How Will I Know by Whitney Houston
Melanie Walters and Aljaz Skorjanec – Cha cha to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee
Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon – Quickstep to C’est Magnifique by Kay Starr
Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita – Jive to Animal by KATSEYE
Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby – Quickstep to I Just Might by Bruno Mars
Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden – Tango to No Roots by Alice Merton
Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley – Cha cha to the Smokey Joe’s Cafe version of Hound Dog
John Nellis and Katya Jones – Foxtrot to Ordinary by Alex Warren
Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystal – Paso doble to Aperture by Harry Styles
Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr – Cha cha to Lil Boo Thang by Paul Russell
Dani Dyer-Bowen and Nikita Kuzmin – Samba
Will Best and Dianne Buswell – Samba to Rock DJ by Robbie Williams”

Some good choices in here but also some duds I feel.

I will start this weeks thread at about 2pm

Eek that's a worry number of week 1 Sambas! I understand the plan of get it out the way while the field is wide and the odds of going are low but I think it will make for a hard watch. 💃🕺

Not a single waltz to start with. I think its much to early to be doing some of those dances, I'd rather see some nice basic waltzes.

Definitely too early for the Tango

I think Rock DJ is very Dad at a wedding

Definitely too many sambas @Runningupthecurtains