Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' returned for its eighteenth series with a launch show on 17 October 2020 on BBC One, with the live shows starting on 24 October. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the series launched a month later than usual and ran for nine weeks instead of the usual thirteen.

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English model and television presenter who co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013; she has been the show's main presenter since 2014. ...

and

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

returned as hosts, while

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' and '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show '' Live ...

and

Rylan Clark-Neal Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), known professionally as Rylan, is an English broadcaster and model. He finished in fifth place on the ninth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012, and the following year, he won the eleventh series of ...

returned to host '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two''. In four shows Clark-Neal was replaced by

Gethin Jones Gethin Clifford Jones (born 12 February 1978) is a Welsh television presenter. He was an active rugby union player while at Manchester Metropolitan University and, after graduation, he began his television career on Welsh language channel S4C ...

after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. On 12 September, it was announced that for the first time since the tenth series, there would be no live show broadcast from the

Blackpool Tower Ballroom Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in ...

, also due to the pandemic. There was also no Halloween Special for the first time since the seventh series. However, it was announced shortly afterwards that there would be four episodes highlighting best moments by week from previous series. This started on 19 September, with Movie Week Highlights, Blackpool, followed by Musicals up until The Grand Final. The Grand Final episode featured a tribute to 2014 winner

Caroline Flack Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English television and radio presenter and actress. She won the twelfth series of BBC’s ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2014 and presented ''The X Factor'' and later '' Love Isl ...

, who died on 15 February that year.

Craig Revel Horwood Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Horwood is best ...

Shirley Ballas Shirley Annette Ballas (née Rich, formerly Stopford; born 6 September 1960) is an English ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance adjudicator. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles w ...

and Motsi Mabuse returned to the judging panel for their eighteenth, fourth and second series respectively. On 21 August 2020, it was announced that

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is an Italian choreographer, ballroom and Latin dancer, and Television personality. He has appeared as a judge on the British television dance competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and American adaptation ...

would not be part of the judging panel for this series, due to travel restrictions imposed by the

and his role on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

''. Tonioli instead appeared virtually to give his verdict on the performances during the Sunday night results show. Motsi Mabuse had to miss weeks 4 and 5 in accordance with British government guidelines after travelling to Germany due to a break in at her dance academy; she was replaced by

Anton du Beke Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British ballroom and Latin dancer, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the BBC One celebrity dancing sh ...

, who became a permanent judge the following series replacing Tonioli. The series was won by

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...

and his professional partner

Oti Mabuse Otlile "Oti" Mabuse (born 8 August 1990) is a South African talent show judge, presenter, dancer and Latin dance champion currently based in the United Kingdom. She is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television series ' ...

. At 55 years old, Bailey became the oldest winner in the show's history, and Mabuse became the first professional dancer to win the show for the second consecutive time, as well as the second professional dancer to win twice, the first being

Aliona Vilani Aliona Valeriya Kavanagh (''née'' Vilani on 1 May 1984; russian: Алёна Валерия Вилани), also known by her stage name Aliona Vilani, is a Russian-Kazakh TV personality and was a professional dancer in the BBC series of ''Stric ...

Professional dancers

On 6 March 2020, Kevin Clifton announced he was leaving the show after seven years. Despite being confirmed in the 2020 professional line-up, on 26 March 2020,

AJ Pritchard Alex Joseph Pritchard (born 5 November 1994) is a British dancer and choreographer. In 2013, he auditioned for the seventh series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' along with professional partner Chloe Hewitt, where they reached the semi-finals. From ...

announced he was leaving the show after four years. The other professional dancers from 2019 were all confirmed to be returning for the series.

Gorka Márquez Gorka Márquez (; born 4 September 1990) is a Spanish professional dancer, best known for appearing on the British dance show ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Márquez began dancing at the age of 12, and in 2010 he represented Spain at the ...

received a celebrity partner for the first time since 2018; however, Neil Jones and Nadiya Bychkova only featured in group dances after having partners the previous year, alongside

Graziano Di Prima Graziano Di Prima (born 7 May 1994) is an Italian dancer and choreographer. Career Di Prima was born in Sicily. He toured with Burn the Floor, UK in 2021 alongside other professional dancers and the Strictly Come Dancing the Professionals Live ...

and Nancy Xu. Due to the pandemic, several changes had to be made in how the professional dancers performed. Firstly, the dancers had to shield at home for two weeks. They then formed a bubble which allowed them to stay in a hotel together and to practise their dances there. All the group dances were pre-recorded and played throughout the series.

Couples

On 1 September 2020, the first three celebrities announced to be participating in the series were

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in '' Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

, Jason Bell and

Max George Maximillian Albert George (born 6 September 1988) is an English singer, best known as the lead singer of the boy band The Wanted. George started his career as a footballer, playing for Preston North End. After an injury ended his football car ...

. On 2 September 2020, it was announced that Olympic boxer,

Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired List of undefeated boxing world champions, with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 201 ...

would feature in the first same-sex couple. On 3 September 2020, ''

Made in Chelsea ''Made in Chelsea'' (abbreviated ''MIC'') is a British structured-reality television series broadcast by E4. ''Made in Chelsea'' chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London and South West areas of Belgravia, King's Road, ...

'' star

Jamie Laing James Robin Grant Laing ( /ˈleɪŋ/ ; born 3 November 1988) is an English presenter, television personality and investor. He is the founder of the confectionery company Candy Kittens and best known for appearing on the reality television serie ...

was announced to be participating in the series after withdrawing from the seventeenth series due to a foot injury. Celebrity reveals continued throughout the week until the full line-up was revealed on 4 September 2020. Due to the shorter series, only 12 couples competed, the fewest since the third series in 2005. On 12 November 2020, it was announced that Katya Jones had tested positive for

, which due to government guidelines on self-isolation, meant that she and Nicola were forced to withdraw from the competition.

Scoring chart

Average chart

Highest and lowest scoring performances of the series

The highest and lowest performances in each dance according to the judges' scale are as follows:

Couples' highest and lowest scoring dances

Weekly scores and songs

''Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right:

, Motsi Mabuse''.

Launch show

*Musical guests:

Joel Corry Joel Corry (born 10 June 1989) is an English DJ, producer and television personality. He came to prominence in 2019 with the release of his single "Sorry", featuring vocals from Hayley May (who was not credited in the official music video), whic ...

feat.

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK (, ), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and has received the ASCAP Vangua ...

—" Head & Heart"

Week 1

;Running order

Week 2

*Musical guest:

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...

—"

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

" ; Running order ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Jamie & Karen *Mabuse: Jamie & Karen *Ballas: ''Did not vote, but would have voted to save Jamie & Karen''

Week 3: Movie Week

*Musical guest: The Kanneh-Masons—"

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Ann ...

" ; Running order ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Nicola & Katya *Mabuse: Nicola & Katya *Ballas: ''Did not vote, but would have voted to save Nicola & Katya''

Week 4

''Individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right:

''. *Musical guest: The Vamps—"

Married in Vegas "Married in Vegas" is a song by British pop rock band The Vamps. It was released as a digital download on 31 July 2020 via Virgin EMI as the lead single from their fifth studio album ''Cherry Blossom''. The song was written by James McVey, Tris ...

" ; Running order Nicola & Katya withdrew from the competition, after Katya tested positive for COVID-19. ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Maisie & Gorka *Du Beke: Maisie & Gorka *Ballas: ''Did not vote, but would have voted to save Max & Dianne''

Week 5

''Individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right:

''. *Musical guest:

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

—"

Love Really Hurts Without You "Love Really Hurts Without You" is a song recorded by British R&B recording artist Billy Ocean. The song – written by Ocean under his real name Leslie Charles with the track's producer Ben Findon – was the second single recorded in the name ...

"/" Red Light Spells Danger"/" When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" ; Running order ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Maisie & Gorka *Du Beke: Maisie & Gorka *Ballas: ''Did not vote, but would have voted to save Maisie & Gorka''

Week 6

*Musical guest:

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

—" Elita" *Dance guests:

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

& Jowita—"

Spectrum (Say My Name) "Spectrum" is a song by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine from their second studio album ''Ceremonials'' (2011). It was written by lead singer Florence Welch and Paul Epworth with production being handled by Epworth. The band pr ...

" ; Running order ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Clara & Aljaž *Mabuse: Jamie & Karen *Ballas: Jamie & Karen

Week 7: Musicals Week (Quarter-final)

*Musical guest: Marisha Wallace—"

Climb Ev'ry Mountain "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music.'' It is sung at the close of the first act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an inspirational piece, to encourage people to take ever ...

" ;Running order ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Jamie & Karen *Mabuse: JJ & Amy *Ballas: Jamie & Karen

Week 8: Semi-Final

*Musical guest:

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ...

—" Break Up Song" ;Running order ''For the Dance Off, Jamie & Karen chose to dance their Salsa, while Ranvir & Giovanni chose to dance their Waltz.'' ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Jamie & Karen *Mabuse: Ranvir & Giovanni *Ballas: Jamie & Karen

Week 9: Final

*Musical guest:

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stu ...

—" Time for Change" ;Running order

Dance chart

: Highest scoring dance : Lowest scoring dance : Couple withdrew that week *Week 1: American Smooth, Cha-Cha-Cha, Foxtrot, Jive, Paso Doble, Quickstep, Samba, Tango or Waltz *Week 2: One unlearned dance (introducing Salsa, Street/Commercial and Viennese Waltz) *Week 3 (Movie Week): One unlearned dance (introducing Charleston and Theatre/Jazz) *Week 4: One unlearned dance *Week 5: One unlearned dance (introducing Argentine Tango) *Week 6: One unlearned dance *Week 7 (Musicals Week): One unlearned dance *Week 8 (Semi-Final): Two unlearned dances (introducing Rumba) *Week 9 (Final): Judges' choice, showdance and couple's favourite dance

Ratings

Weekly ratings for each show on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

. All ratings are provided by BARB.

References

External links

* {{Strictly Come Dancing Series 18 2020 British television seasons