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Strictly Come Dancing 2026 launch date revealed by pro dancer's comment
Strictly Come Dancing pro Aljaz Skorjanec appeared to confirm the show's 2026 launch date, set for Saturday, September 19, in a comment on an official BBC Instagram post. The post teased the series' return, which will feature new presenters and a refreshed line-up.
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Launch date revealed
Strictly Come Dancing appears to have found its launch date, with professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec seemingly letting slip when the new series will hit screens. The BBC teased the show's return with an Instagram post showing a dancer, face hidden, reading a newspaper with the front page reading "Strictly 2026 launch". The caption read: "The news we've all been waiting for..."
Skorjanec, who has starred in 11 seasons as a professional dancer, responded in the comments: "The Dancefloor Gazette. See you on the 19th SO EXCITING!!" — leading to reports that the series will launch on Saturday, September 19.
The BBC has not officially confirmed the date, and the post drew reactions from other Strictly figures. Professional dancers Neil Jones and Jowita Przystal commented "Here we go" and "See you soon" respectively. Head judge Shirley Ballas wrote: "Me trying to read the article for any launch spoilers." Fans also joined in, with one called Harry saying "Very excited for Strictly to start", another writing "That's me unavailable until Christmas", and a third adding "I'm so looking forward to it!"
A fresh look for the new series
The new series arrives after a major shake-up, according to reports. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman bid an emotional farewell to their presenting roles at the end of last year's series. They are being replaced by Emma Willis, Josh Widdecombe and Johannes Radebe, who will make their presenting debuts this September.
Anton DuBeke, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse are set to return to the judging panel.
Skorjanec, who returned to the show in 2024 after a three-year break, has spoken about the excitement surrounding the new series. Earlier this year, he said: "We're all awaiting for the official announcement. They don't announce the names of dancers returning until it's confirmed." He added: "I've been lucky enough to do the show for a long time, and last year was my 11th season."
Celebrity line-up
This year's celebrity contestants were revealed earlier, and include Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem, TV presenter Will Best, actress Lacey Turner, and reality star Dani Dyer, who was forced to withdraw from last year's series due to injury. The full line-up reportedly includes actress Jaime Winstone, actress Bethany Antonia, former footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton, former Love Island star Cach Mercer, dog expert Graeme Hall, Emmerdale actor Lawrence Robb, skeleton racer Tabby Stoecker, YouTuber John Nellis, Gavin and Stacey actress Melanie Walters, and others.
How each outlet told it
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Framing: The headline emphasizes an apparent leak by a Strictly star of the show's start date
Facts Included:
A Strictly Come Dancing star has let slip the launch date
Rumours have been swirling over the BBC programme's return date
Strictly is returning after a major shake-up with three new hosts taking over from Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, and five new professional dancers joining
The cast for this year has been revealed including Delta Goodrem, Will Best, Lacey Turner, and Dani Dyer who dropped out of Strictly last year after injury
The BBC teased the show's launch with an image of a dancer behind a newspaper reading 'Strictly 2026 Launch'
The post was captioned 'The news we've all been waiting'
It has been rumoured Strictly would launch on Saturday, September 19
Aljaz Skorjanec wrote: 'The Dancefloor Gazette. See you on the 19th SO EXCITING!!'
Head judge Shirley Ballas played coy writing 'Me trying to read the article for any launch spoilers like'
Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima were dropped from the line-up
Aljaz is married to fellow Strictly star Janette Manrara
Aljaz has one daughter named Lyra
Aljaz said earlier this year: 'We're all awaiting for the official announcement. They don't announce the names of dancers returning until it's confirmed'
Aljaz said: 'I've been lucky enough to do the show for a long time, and last year was my 11th season'
Framing: The headline emphasizes the announcement of the launch date and fans' enthusiastic reaction. — excited and promotional
Facts Included:
The hit Saturday night programme returns to the BBC this month
The official BBC Strictly account shared a post on Instagram, informing followers of the launch date
In the photo, a professional dancer, whose face is hidden, can be seen reading a newspaper with the words "Strictly 2026 launch" on the front page
The caption said: "The news we’ve all been waiting for…" The post was liked by more than 20,000 fans, including familiar names Katya Jones and Aljaz Skorjanec
Aljaz, who has starred in 11 seasons as a professional dancer, also added to the comments to reveal the exact date Strictly will return to TV screens
He said: "The Dancefloor Gazette. See you on the 19th SO EXCITING!!"
Strictly pro Neil Jones said: "Here we go" and Jowira Przystal added: "See you soon"
Head judge Shirley Ballas said: "Me trying to read the article for any launch spoilers"
One fan called Harry said: "Very excited for Strictly to start" and another fan said: "That’s me unavailable until Christmas."
A third added: "I’m so looking forward to it!"
Strictly Come Dancing is set to return to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday, September 19
This episode will see the celebrities partnered up with one of the professional dancers
Things will look slightly different this year as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman said an emotional goodbye to their presenting roles at the end of last year's series
Filling their shoes on the ballroom this year are Emma Willis, Josh Widdecombe and Johannes Radebe
The three new presenters will make their debut this September as they'll welcome the 15 hopeful celebrity contestants onto onto the ballroom floor for the first time
Anton DuBeke, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse will be returning to the judging panel
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimStrictly Come Dancing star Aljaz Skorjanec revealed the show's launch date by commenting 'See you on the 19th' on an official BBC Strictly Instagram post.
ClaimStrictly Come Dancing is returning after undergoing a major shake-up, with three new hosts taking over from Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, and five new professional dancers joining the line-up.
ClaimThe official BBC Strictly account shared a post on Instagram, informing followers of the launch date, with a photo of a professional dancer reading a newspaper with the words 'Strictly 2026 launch' on the front page.
ClaimAljaz Skorjanec said earlier this year: 'We're all awaiting for the official announcement. They don't announce the names of dancers returning until it's confirmed.'
ClaimThe Strictly Come Dancing 2026 celebrity line-up includes Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Graeme Hall, Lawrence Robb, Tabby Stoecker, John Nellis, and Melanie Walters.