With its neon-soaked skyline, giant mirror ball and historic Tower Ballroom, Blackpool isn’t just a town, it’s the annual milestone for Strictly Come Dancing contestants.
Since 2009, those good – or lucky – enough to have made it past the BBC show’s difficult mid-point get to waltz, tango or jive around the sprung wooden floor in anticipation of winning that coveted glitterball trophy.
Tonight the remaining contestants – among them Alex Kingston, Lewis Cope, Amber Davies and Balvinder Sopal – will perform for the judges in what is always a spectacular sojourn in the home of UK ballroom.
This year, however, producers have decided to add an extra element to the traditional episode – four Strictly alumni will return to the dancefloor in a show first.
Earlier this month, the BBC announced that past fan favourites Ashley Roberts, Danny Mac, Jay McGuiness and Layton Williams will return for a special performance – in a move that has left both viewers and show insiders scratching their heads.
Yet the development couldn’t come at a better time. Yesterday it was revealed that a second Strictly star had been arrested on suspicion of rape.
The revelation came just three months after another unnamed star was arrested for an identical offence, as well as ‘non-consensual intimate image abuse’.
The most recent arrest was made last month. The victim was not a contestant or dancer, but the pair met because of the man’s involvement in the BBC show.
Since long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced they were stepping down, Strictly producers have been left scrambling to make the series as appealing as possible
Judge Shirley Ballas during the opening routine on Strictly Come Dancing in 2025
Hertfordshire Police confirmed a man had been arrested, adding that inquiries were ongoing.
While there’s absolutely no suggestion that the return of former Strictly dancers is a diversion linked to the arrests, anything that will distract from off-screen dramas will surely be particularly welcome today.
And it isn’t the only last-minute gimmick that is being hastily rolled out.
Following the news that long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are stepping down after 11 years as the show’s powerhouse presenting duo, Strictly producers are scrambling to make the series as appealing as possible, not just to viewers but, more importantly, to potential presenting replacements, the Daily Mail can reveal.
This latest news will surely only make the challenge even more difficult.
After years of largely sticking to a tried-and-tested format, earlier this week bosses announced an all-new ‘instant dance’ challenge that will take place later this month.
Another one is thought to be in the works for the quarter-final in December.
‘They’re pulling out all the stops to make this series as exciting and appealing as possible following the news of Tess and Claudia leaving,’ a television industry insider told the Daily Mail. ‘It’s not just for viewers – it’s so that potential new presenters can see that it’s not a sinking ship, and that it’s got the potential to evolve.’
Indeed, BBC bosses have been nothing if not protective of this year’s series – far more than ever before. One source familiar with the BBC’s fight to boost the show’s reputation said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this.
‘There is anger at anything said or written which is even mildly critical of Strictly.
‘There is pressure from above at the corporation to keep it all appearing hunky-dory when in actual fact there are fears and worries behind the scenes.
Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke during an appearance on the live show on October 25, 2025
‘It’s like the wheels are coming off Strictly and control has been lost over what is going on there, but they are all trying to keep it bottled up.’
Certainly, bosses seem desperate to keep a positive narrative circulating, and at the heart of that is the producers’ need to find new top-tier hosts.
When Tess and Claudia told fans they were stepping down from the BBC’s flagship entertainment show in a video message midway through the series – which was as much a surprise to Strictly producers as it was to viewers – it left corporation bosses with two very prominent roles to fill.
Having made a pact to leave the show together, and with Claudia now so in demand following the success of The Traitors that BBC executives have offered her a primetime chat show, the pair had no choice but to walk away.
But the future of Strictly now hinges on who the BBC can get in to replace them; the wrong hire could spell disaster for the already beleaguered show, following a string of controversies in recent years.
In 2024, bosses had to firefight a series of damaging allegations that called into question the integrity of the show, when Amanda Abbington accused former professional dancer Giovanni Pernice of ‘abusive and cruel’ behaviour in the 2023 series.
It prompted a forensic internal investigation costing some £250,000, which upheld some of Amanda’s complaints, but not the most serious.
Professional dancer Graziano Di Prima was then sacked after admitting he had kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals for the same series.
The dance show was forced to bring in chaperones to watch over training sessions under the corporation’s duty-of-care plans ahead of the 2024 series.
The measures also included a member of the production team being present during rehearsals at all times, and increased support for both celebrity contestants and the professional dancers. A celebrity welfare producer and a professional dancer welfare producer were also brought in.
Last year, contestant Wynne Evans was recorded making a sexualised remark at the Birmingham Arena as the contestants posed for a group photo for the Strictly tour. He was consequently dropped as a radio presenter by the BBC.
Sopal and Julian Caillon, during the rehearsal for their appearance on the live show on Saturday
Meanwhile, there have been claims two Strictly stars had used cocaine, which has sparked an inquiry. One of the stars involved in the drugs probe was also suspected of drinking while working on the show after crew smelled alcohol on their breath.
The show’s mantra ‘keep dancing’ has been employed to great effect following the scandals, with Tess and Claudia remaining the familiar, smiling faces of the current series. But without them at the helm, and with judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke constantly having to fend off viewer criticism for their decisions, bosses know there needs to be an experienced, professional and much-loved pairing to take over.
While Holly Willoughby, Hannah Waddingham, Alan Carr, Bradley Walsh and Paddy McGuinness are all names in the offing, whether or not they’d want to sign on to a show which has been so mired in controversy is another matter.
Bosses also know that, even with their new hosts in place, landing a stellar celebrity line-up will be crucial next year.
They will want a strong mixture of legacy and household names, with younger, more relevant up-and-comers needed to appeal to younger audiences.
So, it is with this in mind that producers have set about a miniature mid-series revamp of the show, which will showcase its future potential to possible new hires.
Bringing back past favourites tonight will remind viewers and presenters of the longevity and enduring popularity of the programme, as they take to the dance floor for a special performance alongside the professionals.
There is also more time to fill, as the early departure of Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis due to injury has left the show one celebrity down.
Drag star La Voix has also had to pull out of tonight’s show after suffering an injury and has been given a bye through to next week.
Next Saturday will see the launch of the ‘instant dance challenge’, in which the remaining couples will have to choose a dance style at random, dash through wardrobe to select an outfit and then, in just ten seconds, decide how they will do the dance.
Celebrities and dancers, during their appearance on the live show on September 27, 2025
‘Instant dance has the power to change everything for our couples, and will challenge them in ways they have never been challenged before,’ Shirley said.
‘With standards so incredibly high this year and the competition so close, there’s a lot resting on it.’
The Strictly episode schedule, posted online, also hints at another new gimmick, set to air during musicals week, on December 6.
‘Tom Fletcher provides music and marmalade sandwiches, as he performs a song from the brand new musical adaptation of Paddington, with the iconic bear joining us in the ballroom,’ reads the synopsis.
It’s thought the couples will then return to the floor to take part in another instant dance challenge.
Even before Tess and Claudia made the shock announcement that they were leaving, producers had employed some subtle changes to this series in order to give the format a shake-up.
In a bid to inject a little more drama, they have revamped the Sunday night results show by changing the dance-off reveal. Instead of quickly whittling the contestants down to the two who will be dancing again in a bid to keep their place in the competition, four celebrities are now left waiting to find out which of them has the fewest viewer votes.
This means that there are now four couples left shaking in their dance shoes as they wait to find out their fate.
Other, smaller changes made to the results show include the introduction of new music, which plays as contestants are waiting to find out who is through to the next week, and a shift in lighting, with more dramatic colours used.
Karen Hauer, and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey dancing live on the show on October 18, 2025
Producers have also given each judge the deciding vote on who stays and who goes on a weekly rotation, meaning that the decision doesn’t always rest with head judge Shirley, as it used to.
It is thought they made this decision to lessen the online abuse that has been directed at her in recent years.
In 2023, the abuse went so far that she admitted she had become scared to leave the house.
‘I’ve had people draw coffins with me in it with somebody with a spade that said, “Die you b****,’” she told former Love Island star turned TV presenter Olivia Attwood on her ITV documentary about trolling. ‘I never relax. It has changed my life completely, I would say.’
But she has stood firm in defence of her critiques, and last year said: ‘I judge without fear or favour.’
Unfortunately, it seems that the format shift has not yet been enough to change some viewers’ perspectives of the former ‘Queen of Latin’, who joined the show following Len Goodman’s departure in 2016.
As the new series of the dance competition got under way, Shirley was still bearing the brunt of viewers’ criticism – with her fellow judges largely escaping their ire.
Viewers complained that Shirley is ‘overly critical’ and has ‘favourites’ to whom she delivers ‘biased’ scores.
While its viewing figures – broadly in line with those of 2024 – prove that it has retained its diehard fanbase and is still the BBC’s biggest entertainment show, its future now hinges on which presenting talent it can land for 2026.
And, whoever it signs up and in whatever direction it goes, one thing is for certain: next year’s show will be a brand-new Strictly Come Dancing.
