Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday, 19 September 2026 with its biggest on-screen reset in years, as Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe take over as the programme’s new presenting trio.

The launch show, airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, introduces the 2026 celebrity cast, the professional dancers and a revamped way of revealing this year’s partnerships. It marks the first series after long-serving hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped down, giving the BBC’s flagship ballroom competition a visibly different opening night.

Three presenters begin a new Strictly era

Emma Willis, comedian Josh Widdicombe and former Strictly professional Johannes Radebe are fronting the main show together. The combination gives the programme three presenters with very different backgrounds: Willis brings extensive live entertainment experience, Widdicombe brings a comedy-led presenting style, while Radebe arrives with first-hand knowledge of the Strictly ballroom.

The launch therefore represents more than a normal season premiere. Viewers are seeing a new presenting structure tested on one of British television’s most established Saturday-night formats.

The celebrity pairings are getting a new reveal

The traditional celebrity-and-professional partnership reveal is also being reshaped. According to details released ahead of the programme, the celebrities and professional dancers discover their partners in front of the studio audience, with the reveals incorporated into three specially choreographed group routines.

That gives the opening episode more dancing than a conventional introduction show and turns the pairing process itself into part of the performance. The 2026 cast features 15 celebrity contestants, all preparing for the live competition that follows the launch.

The format change also brings viewers closer to a process that usually happens largely away from the television audience. Reporting ahead of the launch described a version of the programme’s partner-selection process being shown publicly in a way the show has not done before.

What happens after the launch show?

The 19 September programme is a launch rather than the first scored competition night. It introduces the couples, new presenters and refreshed production format before the live contest begins the following week.

That distinction matters because no celebrity is being eliminated during the launch episode. The competitive series starts once the newly formed couples have had time to rehearse their first routines.

A wider refresh for Strictly in 2026

The presenting overhaul comes alongside other changes to the ballroom. Five new professional dancers have joined the 2026 professional line-up following several departures, making this one of the programme’s most significant personnel changes in recent years.

FlyingEze has previously covered both Delta Goodrem joining the Strictly 2026 line-up and the BBC’s new professional-dancer additions .

The result is a season launch built around continuity and change at the same time: the judges, ballroom spectacle and celebrity-professional format remain recognisable, but the people guiding viewers through the programme and the way the opening-night pairings are presented have been substantially refreshed.

When and where to watch Strictly Come Dancing 2026

The 2026 launch show airs on Saturday, 19 September at 7:25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The first live competition show is scheduled for the following Saturday, 26 September.

For viewers, the launch will provide the first complete look at the new three-host dynamic, the celebrity-professional pairings and the programme’s revised opening-night format before the competition begins in earnest.