As of Saturday 8 August 2026, the Strictly Come Dancing 2026 lineup stands at twelve confirmed celebrities, three new hosts, five new professional dancers and precisely zero familiar goodbyes left to say. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are gone. The machine they fronted for two decades has been rebuilt around them, and the cast announced so far is the clearest sign yet of what the BBC wants the show to become.
In brief: The confirmed Strictly Come Dancing 2026 celebrities so far are Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Graeme Hall and Lawrence Robb. Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe present the series, the judging panel is unchanged, and the launch show is expected to air on BBC One on 19 September.
The Strictly Come Dancing 2026 full lineup so far
- Lacey Turner. EastEnders’ Stacey Slater since 2004. First confirmed, on 10 June.
- Dani Dyer. TV personality and author, back after the ankle injury that ended her 2025 series early.
- Delta Goodrem. Australian singer-songwriter. The marquee international signing.
- Chris Appleton. Celebrity hair stylist, Leicester-born and Hollywood-based.
- Cach Mercer. Model, DJ and the 2025 Love Island champion.
- Will Best. TV and radio presenter with more than 15 years on air.
- Dame Sarah Storey. Nineteen Paralympic golds. The most successful British Paralympian in history.
- Jaime Winstone. Actress, confirmed on 23 July.
- Bethany Antonia. House of the Dragon’s Lady Baela Targaryen.
- Shaun Wright-Phillips. Former England winger with 36 caps, now a pundit. Confirmed on 30 July.
- Graeme Hall. The Dogfather himself, from Channel 5’s Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly.
- Lawrence Robb. Emmerdale’s Mackenzie Boyd. The twelfth name, confirmed in early August.
A June start and a scattergun summer
The rollout broke with tradition. The BBC usually waits until August to start unveiling names. This year Lacey Turner landed on 10 June, with Dani Dyer and Delta Goodrem following within days. Then the taps slowed. Weeks went by between announcements, a pace the Huffington Post called scattergun.
Maybe that was strategy. Maybe it was scheduling chaos. The effect is the same. Strictly has stayed in the news cycle for two solid months without airing a single frame of television.
Dani Dyer’s return carries the best story of the twelve. She withdrew from the 2025 series with an ankle injury before the live shows properly began, and her confirmation quote landed the only joke worth making: “hopefully this time around I can actually make it to week one.“
Three hosts, no Tess, no Claudia
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe replace Daly and Winkleman, who stepped down in 2025 saying the show deserved something new. Claudia Winkleman’s response to her successors was four words on Instagram: “Magnificent. What a trio.” Viewers were less settled. A Mirror poll split between “awful” and “fantastic”, which is roughly the default national position on any BBC decision.
Radebe is the interesting appointment. Promoting a professional dancer to the host’s mic keeps two decades of institutional memory in the room. The judges, meanwhile, are untouched: Shirley Ballas heads the panel with Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke.
The quiet rebuild of the pro dance floor
Five professionals have left ahead of the new series: Gorka Márquez, Karen Hauer, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas. Neil Jones and Nancy Xu are reportedly back but without celebrity partners, repeating a benching arrangement that upset fans in 2025.
In their place come five newcomers, Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Mark Karmalita and Maddie Ingoldsby, recruited from the Ukrainian, Italian, South African, Canadian and UK competitive circuits. Executive producer Sarah James called them “outstanding world class dancers”. The returning roster includes Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, Katya Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Kai Widdrington, Lauren Oakley, Vito Coppola, Carlos Gu, Jowita Przystańska, Aljaž Škorjanec, Alexis Warr and Julian Caillon.
That is a lot of churn for a show whose pros are usually the stable part.
Who is still missing? The rumoured final three
A standard Strictly cast runs to fifteen celebrities, which leaves three seats unfilled. The Sun has reported talks with Jeff Brazier and says Jake Quickenden has caught the eye of the bookers, while Josie Gibson is described as a long-standing wish-list name. The Independent lists former referee Mark Clattenburg, now of Gladiators, among the rumoured additions. None of it is confirmed. The BBC’s scattergun summer has given the rumour mill an unusually long season.
Why this series matters more than most
Strip away the sequins and 2026 is a stress test. The show spent 2024 absorbing training-ground complaints that forced a public reckoning with how contestants are treated, then lost its two presenters a year later. Karen Carney and Carlos Gu’s warm 2025 win steadied things. The wider broadcaster is rebuilding several flagship brands at once, after a period that ran from the Huw Edwards catastrophe to abrupt exits across news and radio. Strictly is simply the shiniest part of that rebuild.
The casting reads like a deliberate portfolio. Soap royalty in Lacey Turner and Lawrence Robb, whose Emmerdale co-star Danny Miller has hinted to The Sun that Robb will be off the soap until 2027, a storyline Metro joked brings new meaning to the Strictly curse. Reality bait in Cach Mercer.
Prestige in Delta Goodrem, a genuine international arena act agreeing to learn the foxtrot. Sporting ballast in Dame Sarah Storey and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Soap actors remain the show’s most reliable fuel, and EastEnders figures have a habit of staying in the headlines, on the dance floor or, like Shane Richie this month, firmly off it.
Even the theme weeks are comfort food: Movies, Icons, Halloween and Musicals all return, with the Instant Dance challenge back after its 2025 debut.
Key dates for Strictly 2026
The launch show records at Elstree on Wednesday 9 September and is expected to air on BBC One on Saturday 19 September, with live shows following the next weekend. The series will also stream on iPlayer.
Strictly 2026 lineup FAQs
When does Strictly Come Dancing 2026 start?
The launch show records on 9 September and is expected to air on BBC One on 19 September 2026, with live shows the following weekend.
Who is hosting Strictly in 2026?
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe, replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
How many celebrities are confirmed?
Twelve as of 8 August 2026, with three more expected to complete a typical fifteen-strong cast.
Which professional dancers have left?
Gorka Márquez, Karen Hauer, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas, with five new pros joining.
Is Delta Goodrem really doing Strictly?
Yes. The BBC confirmed the singer-songwriter as its third celebrity signing in June.
The final three names will answer the only question left. If the BBC signs Josie Gibson, it wants safe. If it signs Mark Clattenburg, it wants noise. After two years of noise, safe might be the braver choice.
