Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...

and

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...

returned as hosts, while

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after G ...

and

Rylan Clark-Neal Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), commonly known as Rylan Clark, is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the ninth series of the television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2012, in ...

returned to host '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two''. 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 a ...

for four shows after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. 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 P ...

due to the pandemic. However, it was announced shortly afterwards that there would be four episodes highlighting the best moments from previous series. The final episode featured a tribute to 2014 winner

Caroline Flack Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English television presenter and actress. Flack grew up in Norfolk and took an interest in dancing and theatre while at school. She began her professional career as an actress, ...

, who had died on 15 February that year.

Shirley Ballas Shirley Annette Ballas (née Rich, formerly Stopford; born 6 September 1960) is an English dancer and television personality. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles which earned her the n ...

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 a jud ...

, and

Motsi Mabuse Motshegetsi "Motsi" Mabuse (born 11 April 1981) is a South African dancer who lives in Germany. She is known for appearing on the German dance competition '' Let's Dance'', originally as a professional dancer, and later as a judge on the show, a ...

returned to the judging panel. On 21 August 2020, it was announced that

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is a British-Italian television personality, choreographer and dancer. He has judged on the British television talent shows ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004–2019), ''DanceX'' (2007) and ''Britain's Got Ta ...

could 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 ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. Tonioli instead appeared virtually to give his critiques 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.

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' (2000–2004), and for his regula ...

and

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 serie ...

were announced as the winners on 19 December, while HRVY and

Janette Manrara Janette Manrara Škorjanec (born November 16, 1983) is an American singer, choreographer and professional dancer, and television presenter. She is best known for her appearances on the US series '' So You Think You Can Dance'' and British dance re ...

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

and

Karen Hauer Karen Hauer (formerly Clifton; born 20 April 1982) is a Venezuelan-American professional Latin dance specialist and World Mambo Champion, best known for her appearances on the British television series ''Strictly Come Dancing''. She is currently ...

, and

Maisie Smith Maisie Louise Collender Smith (born 9 July 2001) is an English actress and singer. She appeared in the feature film ''The Other Boleyn Girl (2008 film), The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2008) and played the regular role of Tiffany Butcher in the BBC O ...

and

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 ...

were the runners-up.

Format

The couples dance each week in a live show. The judges score each performance out of ten. The couples are then ranked according to the judges' scores and given points according to their rank, with the lowest scored couple receiving one point, and the highest scored couple receiving the most points (the maximum number of points available depends on the number of couples remaining in the competition). The public are also invited to vote for their favourite couples, and the couples are ranked again according to the number of votes they receive, again receiving points; the couple with the fewest votes receiving one point, and the couple with the most votes receiving the most points. The points for judges' score and public vote are then added together, and the two couples with the fewest points are placed in the bottom two. If two couples have equal points, the points from the public vote are given precedence. As with the previous series, the bottom two couples have to perform a dance-off on the results show. Based on that performance alone, each judge then votes on which couple should stay and which couple should leave, with

, as head judge, having the last and deciding vote.

Professional dancers

On 6 March 2020,

Kevin Clifton Kevin James Clifton (born 13 October 1982) is an English professional dancer and actor, who was a professional dancer on the BBC TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', having previously worked as an assistant choreographer. He has also featured on ...

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. Neil Jones and

Nadiya Bychkova Nadiya Bychkova (; born 24 August 1989) is a Ukrainian Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin American dancer who is a multiple-time Slovenian Ballroom and Latin Champion and two-time World and European Champion in '10' Dance. In 2017, ...

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 choreography (dance), choreographer. Between 2018 and 2023, Di Prima was a professional dancer on the BBC's ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Career Di Prima was born in Sicily. He toured wi ...

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 , where they could practise their routines. All of the group dances were pre-recorded.

Couples

This series featured twelve celebrity contestants. On 1 September 2020, the first three celebrities announced were

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Amanda Jane 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 ...

, 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 F.C., Preston North End. After an injur ...

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

Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams OBE (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female flyweight title in 2019. As an ...

would be part of the first same-sex partnership. On 3 September 2020, ''

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

'' star

was confirmed to be participating in the series after having to withdraw 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. On 12 November 2020, it was announced that

Katya Jones Katya Jones (born Ekaterina Andreevna Sokolova; ; 12 May 1989) is a Russians, Russian dancer and choreographer. She is best known for being a professional dancer in the competition show ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which she won in 2017 with her ...

had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, which meant that she and Nicola Adams had to withdraw from the competition due to the government's guidelines on self-isolation.

Scoring chart

The highest score each week is indicated in with a dagger (), while the lowest score each week is indicated in with a double-dagger (). Color key: ;Notes

Weekly scores

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

''.

Week 1

There was no elimination this week; all scores and votes carried over to the following week. Couples are listed in the order they performed.

Week 2

Musical guest:

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

— "

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

" Couples are listed in the order they performed. ;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 guests: The Kanneh-Masons — "

Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...

" Couples are listed in the order they performed. ;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: Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke''. Musical guest: The Vamps — " Married in Vegas" Anton Du Beke substituted for

, who was forced to miss two weeks due to having travelled outside the United Kingdom. After

tested positive for

, she and

were forced to withdraw from the competition. Couples are listed in the order they performed. ;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: Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke''. Musical guest:

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles (born 21 January 1950), known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally. After releasing sev ...

— "

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 "''When the going gets tough, the tough get going''" is a popular phrase of witticism in American English. The phrase is an example of an antimetabole. The origin of the phrase has been attributed to various sources. It appeared to come from A ...

" Anton Du Beke again substituted for

. Couples are listed in the order they performed. ;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 pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

— " Elita"
Dance guests:

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

& 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 pre ...

" Couples are listed in the order they performed. ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Clara & Aljaž *Mabuse: Jamie & Karen *Ballas: Jamie & Karen

Week 7: Musicals Week (Quarter-final)

Musical guest:

Marisha Wallace Marisha Wallace (born September 29, 1985) is an American-born British actress and singer, best known for her work in musical theatre. Life and career Wallace appeared in the original Broadway casts of ''Aladdin'' (2014) and ''Something Rotten!'' ...

— "

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 and is sung again in the epilogue of the second act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an insp ...

" ''(from

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

)'' Couples are listed in the order they performed. ;Judges' votes to save *Horwood: Jamie & Karen *Mabuse: JJ & Amy *Ballas: Jamie & Karen

Week 8: Semi-final

Musical guest:

Little Mix Little Mix are an English girl group that formed on the eighth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor.'' They are the first group and the only girl group to win the original UK series. The lineup consisted of Leigh-Anne Pin ...

— " Break Up Song" Each couple performed two routines, and are listed in the order they performed. ;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, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

— " Time for Change" Each couple performed three routines: one chosen by the judges, their favourite dance of the season, and their showdance routine. Couples are listed in the order they performed.

Dance chart

The couples performed the following each week: *Weeks 1–7: One unlearned dance *Week 8 (Semifinal): Two unlearned dances *Week 9 (Final): Judges' choice, showdance & favourite dance of the series

Ratings

Weekly ratings for each show on

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

. All ratings are provided by BARB.

References

External links

* {{Strictly Come Dancing

Series 18 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

2020 British television seasons