Strictly 2026: Who are the couples competing for the Glitterball Trophy?
It’s time to grab your dance shoes and douse yourself with glitter as Strictly Come Dancing is officially back on our screens.
The BBC dance competition returned on Saturday for its 24th series, the first in its history without longtime host Tess Daly after her departure alongside co-host Claudia Winkleman last year.
Stepping into their hosting shoes are broadcaster Emma Willis, comedian Josh Widdicombe, and dancer Johannes Radebe, who has been a pro on the show for almost a decade.
Alongside the new trio of hosts, there are also five new professional dancers gearing up to make their entrance onto the dance floor.
Before the first live episode, here’s everything you need to know about the new couples, hosts, judges and more.
Who are the newly paired Strictly couples?
Bethany Antonia is best known for her starring role as dragon-rider Lady Baela Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon, which is set 200 years before the events of Game Of Thrones.
She started her acting career at 14 years old, appearing in a short film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, before going on to feature in shows such as Doctors, Stah Lets Flats and Doctor Who.
She has been paired with Nancy Xu, who has been a professional dancer on the show since 2019. Xu was trained at China's elite Guangdong Dance School, specialising in Latin dance.
The pair are this year’s same-sex couple, with fans delighted with the pairing. One fan wrote: “Bethany and Nancy same sex partnership we wonnn.” Another commented: “I need Bethany and Nancy to be good omg.”
Cach Mercer is the former winner of Love Island, where he won the 2025 show alongside Toni Laites, with the couple splitting the £50,000 prize pot. They have since broken up.
He has also made a name for himself on social media, where he posts videos of himself dancing to TikTok.
He has been paired with newcomer Maddie Ingoldsby, a UK national ballroom champion.
She began her career playing Annie in the West End, and has since gone on to become an eight-time Amateur 10-Dance World Champion.
Chris Appleton is a celebrity hair stylist who is best known for working with stars including Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.
His other celebrity clients include Sofía Vergara, Ariana Grande and Katy Perry.
Appleton has previously been named a “Hair Star” by Vogue UK and his work has been showcased on covers and in major features for publications including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Grazia, L’Officiel Paris, and more.
He is paired with Amy Dowden, veteran Strictly legend who last year left the competition first with Thomas Skinner.
Dowden has been open with her breast cancer diagnosis and has undergone a double masectomy. She now says she feels the “fittest, healthiest and strongest” she has ever been.
Dani Dyer is back again after dropping out of the competition last year due to injury. The daughter of actor Danny Dyer, the 30-year-old has made a name for herself on reality TV, including the 2018 series of Love Island, which she won.
She has been paired again with Nikita Kuzmin, her partner in the 2025 series. Kuzmin is a Ukranian dancer, who joined Strictly in 2021. The pair have both expressed their happiness with being reunited.
Australian pop sensation Delta Goodrem, who recently represented her country in Eurovisioin, is set to hit the dance floor.
She rose to fame in Neighbours as shy teenager Nina Tucker from 2002 to 2003, and has returned to the Australian soap for several guest appearances, including the finale in 2022.
Goodrem has also featured as a coach on The Voice Australia, and has achieved massive chart success in the country, landing five Australian number one albums.
She is paired with Kai Widdrington, an English dancer and choreographer who joined the show back in 2021.
TV presenter and dog trainer Graeme Hall is famed for hosting hit Channel 5 programme Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and regularly showcases his expert knowledge on ITV’s This Morning and BBC Radio.
Nicknamed “the Dog Father”, he is also an author who has penned several popular books focusing on dog training, canine behaviour and understanding pets.
Hall is paired with Lauren Oakley, who joined the series in 2022 as a professional dancer.
The actress, 41, who is the daughter of actor Ray Winstone, is known for appearing in films including Made In Dagenham, Bullet Boy and Tomb Raider.
The star has also appeared in several shows including Dead Set, Poirot and the BBC TV movie Babs, where she played the late Dame Barbara Windsor.
She has also branched into theatre work, starring in the West End production of 2:22 A Ghost Story.
Winstone has been paired with Carlos Gu, who won last year during his partnership with former Lioness Karen Carney.
Social media star John Nellis is one of the UK and Ireland’s biggest football content creators, with a combined audience of more than 15 million followers on YouTube.
His videos have featured some of the biggest names in world sport, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo and, more recently, Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland – which amassed more than 13 million views on YouTube.
He has been paired with Strictly legend Katya Jones, a Russian dancer who is celebrating her 10th year on the show.
Lacey Turner was the first contestant to be confirmed for the new Strictly Come Dancing series.
The EastEnders star - who is currently on an extended break from playing the iconic character Stacey Slater - first rose to fame in 2004. After departing several times, she returned to the cobbles once more in 2025.
She has won over fourty awards, the most of any soap actor in the UK for her portrayal of the character.
Turner has also featured in Being Human, Call the Midwife and Our Girl.
She has been paired with Vito Coppola, an Italian dancer who joined the series in 2022 and won in 2023 with partner Ellie Leach, also a soap star.
Pundit Shaun Wright-Phillips is a former footballer with 36 caps for England, across a professional career that also saw him play for Manchester City, Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers, and the USA’s New York Red Bulls and Phoenix Rising FC.
Now a football pundit and broadcaster, he has worked with the likes of the BBC, Sky Sports, ITV, and the Premier League.
He has been paired with Alexis Warr, who joined the series last year where the American dancer was partnered with social media star George Clarke.
Skelton racer Tabitha “Tabby” Stoecker most famously won gold at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
She is also a World Cup race winner, a double World Championship medallist and a European Championship medallist.
She has been paired with newcomer Mark Karmalita, a 22-year-old Candian dancer hitting the Strictly dancefloor for the first time.
Big Brother co-host Will Best will be hitting the dancefloor for the upcoming season. He has worked as a broadcaster for over 15 years, beginning his screen career as a presenter on T4 before appearing on This Morning, BBC Three and Viva.
He is paired with legend Dianne Buswell, who has just had her first child with former partner turned romantic partner Joe Sugg, after meeting on the 2018 series.
Emmerdale star Lawrence Robb portrays Mackenzie “Mack” Boyd on the ITV soap, a member of the well-known Dingle family.
Before joining Emmerdale, he appeared in the Sky series I Hate Suzie with Billie Piper and starred in Legally Blonde: The Musical on the West End.
He has been paired with Jowita Przystał, a polish dancer who won the show with partner Hamza Yasssin, becoming the first female Strictly Professional to win in her first year with a partner.
Melanie Walters is best known for playing Gwen West in Gavin and Stacey – which she appeared in from its launch in 2007 and then reprised her role for the 2024 Christmas special.
Her television work also includes roles in Coronation Street, Beyond Paradise, Being Human, Hollyoaks, Biff And Chip, and Doc Martin, while her film credits include Submarine, Resistance, High Tide and Save The Cinema.
On stage, she has appeared in productions such as The Importance Of Being Earnest, Blood Brothers, Twelfth Night, Educating Rita and What’s New Pussycat?.
She has been paired with Aljaž Škorjanec, a Slovenian dancer who appeared in the show from 2013 to 2021, and then from 2024 onwards.
Dame Sarah Storey is a cyclist and swimmer with 19 Paralympic gold medals to her name, making her the most successful British Paralympian of all time.
She started her career as a swimmer and competed at four Paralympic Games before switching to cycling, winning a total of 30 Paralympic medals across nine Games, including four golds at London 2012.
She has been paired with Julian Caillon, an Australian dancer who has joined the series last year.
Who are the new hosts?
Born and raised in Birmingham, Willis tried her hand at modelling before getting her first big break presenting on MTV in 2002.
She later moved on to presenting for a range of ITV shows, including Loose Women, This Morning and ITV2 spin-off series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! with her husband Matt, of Busted fame.
Willis’ largest and potentially best known gig is her time spent in the Big Brother universe.
First joining Big Mouth in 2005, she went on to present eight series of Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side, four series of the non-celebrity version, as well as landing the job of presenter for Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother between 2013 and 2018.
Some of her other credentials on an already stacked CV include The Voice, The Circle and Girlfriends.
She currently hosts Love Is Blind UK with her husband Matt, with whom she shares three children.
The 43-year-old comedian is potentially best known for co-presenting satirical chat show The Last Leg, as well as his podcast Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett.
Born in Hammersmith, London, in 1983, Widdicombe grew up in a rural area of Dartmoor, Devon.
His first panel show appearance came in 2012 on Stand Up For The Week, before making his debut on Mock the Week later that same year.
The following year he made his first appearance on The Last Leg, a show he still hosts to this day, with his total number of seasons being 30.
In 2015, he won the first-ever series of the hit comedy game show Taskmaster and returned to win the first Champion of Champions special in 2017.
As well as hosting popular podcast Parenting Hell with Beckett, in which he discusses his experience raising two children, he also hosts pop culture podcast Archive of Pop Culture.
The South African dancer has shown off his best moves on the BBC show for eight seasons, and now, it’s his time to switch his dancing shoes for a microphone.
His interest in dance began at a young age, with the bright colourful costume piquing his interest. He later left home whilst a teenager to focus on his training.
Radebe began his career as a dance teacher in Johannesburg, before spending seven years dancing on cruise ships.
During his illustrious dancing career, the 39-year-old has won several major titles, including becoming a multiple-time South African Latin champion.
He first joined the Strictly universe in 2014, in the South African edition, before going on to join the original iteration of the show in the UK.
During his time on the show, he has danced with seven celebrities, his highest placement being 2nd with partner John Waite. The pair were the first male same-sex pairing in the history of the UK format.
His most recent was Alex Kingston in 2025, with whom he finished 6th.
Who are the new dancers?
Five new professional dancers will be making their Elstree live debut on Saturday.
It comes after the BBC confirmed that five long-serving professionals would be making their exit. Karen Hauer, Gorka Márquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas will not be returning for the upcoming season.
The Ukrainian dancer is ranked in the world's top 21 Latin dancers, as well as reaching top 10 positions at both the European Latin championships in Blackpool and the Dutch open world Latin dance competition.
She was also a finalist at the UK Dance Festival’s Latin Rising Star competition.
Also joining the cast is Christian Priori, who also happens to be Isaeva’s dance partner.
Priori, born in Rome, is a four-time Italian Latin Champion who was ranked in the World’s top 24 Latin dancers for eight consecutive years.
Lethabo Monametsi fell in love with dance whilst watching the South African version on the show, and has since gone on to win TV dance competition Dance Yo Dumo as a member of the collective Urban Wave.
From Bournemouth comes Maddie Ingoldsby, who is a UK National Ballroom champion.
She began her career playing Annie in the West End, and has since gone on to become an eight-time Amateur 10-Dance World Champion.
Rounding out the quintet of fresh faces in Mark Karmalita, who is a two-time national Latin champion in his native Canada.
He is also a Canadian championship winner and finalist across multiple age groups. He was also previously ranked 10th in the World at the Under 21 Latin Dance Festival in Blackpool.
Who is on the judging panel?
The judging panel for the upcoming season remains unchanged:
The foursome will deliver their critiques (some harsher than others), provide technical analysis, and give the stars their all important scores.