Overview
- Strictly Pro Dance Off premiered on CBBC and BBC iPlayer during Saturday Mash‑Up! at 9am, with episode one led by Dianne Buswell and featuring Kai Widdrington and Lauren Oakley performing a Jive.
- The main Strictly launch show will air on BBC One at 7:25pm tonight and uses a pre‑recorded, dance‑led format in which celebrities meet and are paired with professionals on the dancefloor while the new presenting trio of Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe make their debut.
- The CBBC series is seven minutes long and pairs one lead pro teaching a routine in a virtual training room with two pros whose students then face off in a judged dance battle using Strictly score paddles.
- Provenance of this season’s roster has been signalled by the BBC with five new professional dancers — Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby and Mark Karmalita — joining the returning pros and appearing across the spin‑off to familiarise audiences with their styles.
- Producers are testing a multi‑platform strategy that combines CBBC morning slots, BBC One prime time and BBC iPlayer content to widen the show’s audience, and the companion programme It Takes Two has also changed presenter to Ellie Taylor for the new series.