Now (2023) on its 21st series, Strictly Come Dancing is a Celebrity Talent Show in which 15 celebrities are paired up with professional dancers, the latter of whom have to teach the former how to dance. They dance each week and one couple is voted off each week via a combination of judges' scores and public voting until the the final, which is decided by audience vote alone. The final is intended to have 4 couples (3 in earlier series) but sometimes there are less if someone has dropped out.
In early 2000s, the BBC hit on the idea of bringing back the competitive ballroom dancing show Come Dancing, except with celebrities. The show was designed so that dancers would be judged partly by professional judges and partly by a public vote. The show debuted in 2004. Two series aired that year; since then it has always aired in the last months of the year with a final in mid-December.
Originally hosted by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly until the 2014 series, Brucie's role has been taken overnote by Tess, with previous Sunday show host Claudia Winkleman taking over Tess' role, becoming the first both-female presenting duo in a British Saturday evening show.note
Each dance is marked out of ten by the four judges, who currently consist of:
- Craig Revel Horwood - theatre choreographer and director; the nastiest (in the pantomime theatre sense) and most brutally honest of the four judges, who offers up legitimately helpful critiques for dancers. Strict about the rules, but likes anything innovative or unusual. The only judge to have appeared in every series to date.note
- Motsi Mabuse - a South African professional dancer, and big sister of former pro dancer Oti Mabuse. The newest judge, having taken over from Darcey Bussell in 2019. Was briefly replaced by long-serving pro dancer Anton du Beke in 2020, after she had to make an emergency trip to Germany and had to self-isolate on returning due to COVID-19 regulations; she appeared via video link but wasn’t allowed to give scores.
- Shirley Ballas - former Latin ballroom dancer and currently a judge within the dancesport competition circle, considered the "Queen of Latin"; also happens to be the mother of Dancing with the Stars pro dancer Mark Ballas. Replaced Len Goodman as head judgenote in 2017.
- Anton du Beke - long-standing professional dancer, present from the very first series, and the last pro dancer left from the original line-up by the 2018 series. Having previously stood in for Motsi for two weeks in 2020 as noted above (as he and his celebrity had already been eliminated), he became a full-time judge in 2021, replacing Bruno Tonioli (see below).
Arlene Phillips was a judge until 2009, but was replaced with 2007 champion Alesha Dixon, much to the disgust of news hacks. Dixon jumped ship for Britain's Got Talent after three series, whereupon former Royal Ballet prima ballerina Darcey Bussell (previously a guest judge for the final stages of the 2009 series) took over. Len Goodman, one of the original four judges, departed after the 2016 series, with his role of head judge being taken over by Shirley Ballas. Bussell departed after the 2018 series, to be replaced by Motsi Mabuse.
Film and TV choreographer Bruno Tonioli (generally quite generous, flamboyant and Camp Gay) was a judge from the very first series, but was not present from the 2020 series due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as he also judges on the US version, Dancing with the Stars, and travel restrictions made it impossible for him to do both. In 2020 they just made do with three judges, but when it became apparent that he would also be unable to participate in the 2021 series he was replaced with long-serving professional Anton du Beke, a move that was made permanent in 2022.
Some recurring types of contestant appear:
- Late-middle-aged male TV presenter who usually goes out in the first couple of rounds. Unless we're talking about John Sergeant, who survived nine rounds due to the public vote, despite low judge markings and active statements by them that he should go, before sensationally pulling out of the 2008 contest.
- "Lads' mag favourite" female who does quite well.
- Medium-fame female singer.
- Well-known, somewhat hunky, sportsman who is probably very competitive.
- Older actress.
- Slightly larger "novelty act".
- Actor or actress from a soap opera (generally EastEnders or Coronation Street) who usually does very well.
- Starting with the more modern series, there's usually at least one young musician or social media influencer that's popular with the younger viewing demographic.
The show also has an attributed "curse of Strictly", with a string of widely-publicised breakups between celebrities and their established partners, sometimes in favour of the pro they were paired with for the show.
The winners
- Series 1 (spring 2004): Natasha Kaplinsky, beating Christopher Parker
- Series 2 (autumn 2004): Jill Halfpenny, beating Denise Lewis and Julian Clary
- Series 3 (2005): Darren Gough, beating Colin Jackson and Zoe Ball
- Series 4 (2006): Mark Ramprakash, beating Matt Dawson
- Series 5 (2007): Alesha Dixon, beating Matt Di Angelo
- Series 6 (2008): Tom Chambers, beating Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon
- Series 7 (2009): Chris Hollins, beating Ricky Whittle
- Series 8 (2010): Kara Tointon, beating Matt Baker and Pamela Stephenson
- Series 9 (2011): Harry Judd, beating Chelsee Healey and Jason Donovan
- Series 10 (2012): Louis Smith, beating Denise van Outen and Kimberley Walsh
- Series 11 (2013): Abbey Clancy, beating Natalie Gumede and Susanna Reid
- Series 12 (2014): Caroline Flack, beating Frankie Bridge and Simon Webbe
- Series 13 (2015): Jay McGuiness, beating Georgia May Foote and Kellie Bright
- Series 14 (2016): Ore Oduba, beating Danny Mac and Louise Redknapp
- Series 15 (2017): Joe McFadden, beating Gemma Atkinson, Alexandra Burke and Debbie McGee
- Series 16 (2018): Stacey Dooley, beating Ashley Roberts, Faye Tozer and Joe Sugg
- Series 17 (2019): Kelvin Fletcher, beating Emma Barton and Karim Zeroual
- Series 18 (2020): Bill Bailey, beating HRVY, Jamie Laing and Maisie Smith
- Series 19 (2021): Rose Ayling-Ellis, beating John Whaitenote
- Series 20 (2022): Hamza Yassin, beating Molly Rainford, Helen Skelton and Fleur East
- Series 21 (2023): Ellie Leach, beating Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier
Dancing with the Stars is the Transatlantic Equivalent (which is a Market-Based Title because the original long-running Come Dancing series isn't well known outside the UK) There are several other versions, which can go in their own entries.
This show contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: If a routine can include a reference to what the celebrity is known for, it will. The presenters also love making puns and jokes related to the contestants profession.
- Matt Baker's countryside-themed cha-cha-cha.
- Jason Donovan's Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tango.
- Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton dancing a paso doble to Queen's "Bicycle Race".
- Tom Fletcher of Mc Fly's routine during Movie Week in the 2021 series was based on Back to the Future; his band is named after the protagonist.
- 2021 also had John Whaite's bakery-themed Charleston.
- The 2022 series had one week where the couples danced to songs from various BBC shows as part of the 100th anniversary celebration, which included Helen Skelton dancing to the Blue Peter theme song, and James Bye dancing to the extended version of the EastEnders theme song.
- There are many dances that are set to songs which reference the contestants' names.
- Mollie King dancing to "Good Golly, Miss Molly".
- Jonnie Peacock dancing to "Johnny B. Goode". Also started with him dancing to "Footloose" - subtle given he's a paralympian blade runner!
- Susan Calman dancing to "If You Knew Susie".
- Joe Sugg actually had two instances of this during his year, dancing to "Cotton Eye Joe" in Week 2 and a medley of songs from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Musicals Week.
- Two instances of this in the 2020 season. Jamie Laing performed to the title song of "Everybody's Talking About Jamie", whilst Bill Bailey performed to "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey?"
- In a similar vein to the above, Scott Maslen, who played Jack Branning in EastEnders, did a jive to "Hit The Road, Jack".
- Always Second Best:
- Professional dancer Kevin Clifton finished as runner-up four years running (the only professional to be runner-up more than once without winning, let alone four years in a row), which is almost every year he's been on the show. He was jokingly referred as "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" until he finally lifted the glitterball in 2018 with Stacey Dooley.
- Pro dancer AJ Pritchard has had it even worse, as he finished as a semifinalist on all three of the years he was on the show.
- Ascended Extra: A lot of the professional dancers are now recognised as celebrities in their own right, and the show has capitalised on this by making a big deal of which celebrity gets which pro and pairing them up live in the studio.
- Iveta Lukosiute first appeared as a reserve pro in Series 10, briefly covering for Aliona Vilani and Ola Jordan in a couple of weeks due to injury and family emergency. She then became a regular in Series 11.
- During 'The People's Strictly', as Craig was unable to be a judge due to prior commitments, professional Anton du Beke, famous for his disagreements with the judges, took Craig's chair on the judging panel. He also got ascended further from guest judge to permanent judge, taking Bruno Tonioli's chair on the panel permanently.
- Neil Jones started out as an extra dancer and choreographer during the 2014 and 2015 series, before he and his then-wife Katya were officially ascended to pro status in 2016. However, Katya was partnered more often than Neil was.
- Downplayed with Luba Mushtuk, who was a recurring extra dancer since 2016 and was promoted to titular pro in 2018, but without getting a celebrity partner. In the following years, she wasn't partnered very often compared to most of the other pros, and was usually eliminated early. Played straighter in the 2023 series, where she was partnered with Adam Thomas and made it to week 7 before they were eliminated.
- Kai Widdrington also started out as an extra dancer before being promoted to the main pro line-up in 2021, and even got partner that year.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Among the pros, AJ, and to a lesser extent Chloe when she was still on.
- It's also common for particularly young, young-looking or youth-appealing celebrities to get this treatment as well, such as Tina O'Brien, Georgia May Foote, Claudia Fragapane, Joe Sugg, and most recently Saffron Barker, accentuated by being paired with AJ.
- The 2021 series had Tilly Ramsay, who had her 20th birthday during her time on the show. She was paired with newcomer pro Nikita, one of the younger dancers if not the youngest (AJ had left by then and while fellow new pro Cameron was younger, he wasn't partnered).
- In 2022 there was Molly Rainford, who had her 22nd birthday during her time on the show.
- The 2023 series had then 20-year-old Bobby Brazier.
- Back for the Finale: The final of each series usually sees the return of the previously eliminated celebrities, and features a group performance with them and their partners.
- Beard of Evil: Craig has grown these in the 2014 and 2015 series for his Pantomime role as Captain Hook in Peter Pan.
- The Benchwarmer: Since there are often more professional dancers than celebrity contestants, that means not all the pros will get a partner each series. Out of the current lineup, Neil Jones and Luba Mushtuk have been benched the most, while the other pros either always get a partner, didn't get a partner in their first series but then did every series since then, or occasionally had to spend a series without a partner. Chloe Hewitt and Cameron Lombard were only on the show for two years each and were never partnered.
- A Birthday, Not a Break:
- Fleur East ended up in the dance-off in the 2022 series on or near her birthday.note Thankfully, the judges saved her.
- Jody Cundy wasn't as lucky as Fleur, as he was eliminated from the 2023 series on his birthday.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The three female professional dancers introduced in the 2017 series, respectively: Nadiya, Amy, and Dianne.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- There was a period where the dance off was removed and the elimination would be based purely on the public's vote combined with the judge's earlier scores, with the dance routines and results taking place in the same episode. However, the results show and dance off were soon brought back in order to reduce the chances of the less talented dancers being kept in by bringing back the judge's ability to decide out of the bottom two.
- Originally, the Launch Show for each series would reveal the contestant's dance partners right then and there in the ballroom. In the 2020 series, to keep with social distancing during the COVID Pandemic, this was changed so that the contestants already knew each other, with their meetings having been filmed in different locations beforehand, which was continued in the following years.
- From the 2020 series onwards, the lineups have included at least one pairing where both the contestant and the professional are the same gender (Nicola Adams and Katya Jones in 2020, John Whaite and Johannes Radebe in 2021, both Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice and Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer in 2022, and Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin in 2023).
- Brutal Honesty: Craig can and will tell the contestants just how bad their dancing was in both his comments and markings. The other three use the paddles for less than 5 once or twice a series at best.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Sometimes celebrities who had previously taken part in the Christmas special return to compete in the main series years later.
- After officially leaving the show in 2021, Bruno returned as a guest appearance during the 2022 Christmas special.
- Amy Dowden had to miss out on taking part in the 2023 series due to undergoing chemotherapy for her breast cancer diagnosis. However, she made a surprise appearance during Week 3 to read the voting terms and conditions, and continued to stand around with the rest of the cast for the remainder of that episode. She would go on to stand with the other pros in the "Clauditorium" in the following weeks.
- But Not Too White: Most of the contestants have to go for a spray tan before filming to avoid glowing white under the studio lights.
- Call-Back:
- The group performance featuring all of the previously eliminated celebrities and their partners in the 2022 series finale had a few references to some of their past dances, such as Tony Adams wearing red sparkly shorts (referring back to his performance in week 3) and Ellie Taylor dancing to the CASUAL+Y theme song (referring back to her dance in week 5).
- During Week 2 of the 2023 series, Ed Balls returned as a guest to read the terms and conditions for voting. "Gangnam Style" played in the background, as a reference to one of the routines he did while on the series.
- Catchphrase:
- Sir Bruce Forsyth would often tell contestants that "you're my favourite".
- Brucie's personal catchphrases, usually "Nice to see you".
- Len Goodman has a particular way of pronouncing "Seven" (Seehhhhvvvvveeeeen!)
- A scoring catchphrase from Len: "It's a ten from Len", which has evolved into "From Len, the ten!"
- Craig has "Fab-u-lous!" and sometimes "A-ma-zing!", the former of which is occasionally said by the other judges.
- In season 8, Bruno's "Sccccccccott!"
- Shirley Ballas marks her first 10 with "It's never too early for a ten from Shirley!"
- Closing the show with "Keeeeep dancing!"
- Let Anton tell you.
- Christmas Episode: As the BBC's only really successful light-entertainment show from the New Tens, this rapidly became a staple of the Christmas schedules. Initially this took the format of inviting back past contestants alongside the top three from the most recent series in a standalone competition; in 2010 it was changed to feature new celebrities who didn't have time to do the full series (although a few of them did return for the full series in later years), before reverting to an 'All-Stars' format between 2014 and 2019, before switching back to the 2010-13 style in 2021 (the COVID-19 pandemic caused 2020's special to be a Greatest Hits-style show).
- The Comically Serious: During the announcements that the voting lines are open, Craig is usually seen with a deadpan expression while wearing whatever silly accessories that everyone has been given for said announcements.
- Confetti Drop: The show loves this trope, especially during the finale of every season.
- Crippling Overspecialization:
- Most of the professional dancers have their own specialist field of dancing and can struggle when they have to choreograph, teach and perform in a style they're not used to. Anton Du Beke in particular is a superb ballroom dancer, but his Latin routines are notoriously poor.
- In special cases, such as with the Salsas, Argentine Tangos, and Charlestons, the routines are choreographed by specialized choreographers. There are exceptions, though, such as Janette Manrara, who is originally a Salsa dancer, and Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, who were originally brought in as Argentine Tango specialists before being promoted to competing pros.
- Demoted to Extra:
- The fate of some of the professional dancers who weren't asked to partner celebrities in the 2010 series; those who agreed were put into a "professional dance troupe". The following year the dance troupe was removed, although Ian Waite is apparently too popular to lose altogether as he still regularly appears on It Takes Two and occasionally partners celebrities in special charity or Christmas editions.
- The same goes for professional dancers who don't get to partner celebrities at all for a series, a few of whom left the show after not having a partner for either of their first two series. There have also been a few pros who have previously had partners but missed out on a series - there was quite an outcry from viewers when Nadiya Bychkova wasn't partnered in the 2023 series.
- Since their debut in 2016, neither Neil Jones nor Chloe Hewitt have partnered a celebrity on the main show. This has also been true of 2018 additions Luba Mushtuk and Johannes Radebe. Neil has only eventually got a partner in the 2019 season, three years later, again in 2021, (although he was voted out early). Luba and Johannes, though, are very downplayed, as both only sit out 2018, getting partners in 2019 (though Luba and James Cracknell were first eliminated).
- This also happens to the pros when their partners are eliminated, as their appearances for the rest of the series are reduced to special performances during the results show (and sometimes at the beginning of the main show), and the occasional shot of them in the audience or Clauditorium. Taken even further with those who made it far in the competition one year, only for their next partner to leave early on in the following year. For example, Kai and Giovanni made it to the final in 2021 (though in the former's case, his partner had to miss the final because of an injury) while in 2022, their new partners were eliminated in weeks 2 and 3 respectively.
- Bruno had to miss his spot on the judging panel in 2020 due to travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. They simply reduced the number of judges to three, although Bruno did show up via videolink on occasion, including during the final. He left the show altogether in 2021, his place being taken by Anton.
- Dramatic Pause: Taken to excess at times. The Reveal of who's safe and who's in the dance off in each episode takes ages. The same goes for the Pro Challenge on It Takes Two, where the reveal of how many of a specific dance move a pro completed and how many were disqualified are both dragged out.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The first incarnation of Come Dancing on BBC television might well be viewed this way, such is the popular power of the new show. Beginning as Television Dancing Club in 1949 and renamed Come Dancing in 1950, the show ran to 1995 with few breaks. It took the form of a regional contest between strictly amateur teams and soloists who represented their cities, counties and wider regions. A typical show might have had "Home Counties North" in a formation dance-off against "Northern Counties South", in a variety of styles and disciplines with up to twelve couples per side dancing in unison. This was staid and stuffy television and was much parodied by comedians, such as The Goodies and Rutland Weekend Television. This format was quietly retired in the early part of The '90s.
- For Strictly itself, there were no themed weeks for the first few series, and the use of props was not allowed until 2010.
- Elimination Catchphrase:
- "It's the moment of truth," or "This is it."
- "Join [x] and [y] for their last dance..."
- Everyone Has Standards: Even Craig - who will be the first to point out when someone has done badly and made errors - will admit if someone is good - if they are good, they may even earn a bow, as Debbie McGee did once.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Most of the outfits will have some sparkles on them... because they're so pretty and look so good on dance floor. Tess Daly noted to it during the 2020 series which was during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that "Even the hand sanitiser has been sparkled up!" The show has even invented its own term for this "strictlify/strictlyfy". When a celebrity has been fully "strictlified", it means they've experienced the full make-up, glamour, glitz, sequins and sparkles of the show. When introducing a new show, it's now common for celebrities who don't typically have much use for glitz and sparkle in their day jobs to talk about how they feel about the impending process of "strictlification" they're about to go through.
- Fanservice: Outfits on the professional and even amateur ballroom and Latin circuits can be surprisingly racy, so viewers can see lots of skin and tight outfits. Contestants tend to up this as they go along; mainly as they've lost a lot of weight during all the training. For example, Ola once wears a Sexy Backless Outfit black animal print number with a Navel-Deep Neckline. It looks like it had been sprayed on.
- Forgotten Theme Tune Lyrics: Most viewers are unaware of this, but there are actual lyrics to the Strictly theme song, as demonstrated in the pro number that opened the 2012 series
. The recording is available here. - Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Shirley Ballas seems to wear glasses purely for this effect. If her specs are on, her gloves are off.
- Funny Background Event: One dance in the 2015 season saw a bucket of confetti being thrown over the judges. Shortly after this, Darcey could be seen trying to pick bits of confetti out from her cleavage. Likewise when she was giving her opinion, Craig was picking the confetti out of her hair.
- Funny Foreigner:
- Bruno Tonioli — he wouldn't be able to get away with half of what he says if he didn't have the 'Franc from Father of the Bride (1991)' persona, and thank god he does because he's funny.
- The comedy training VTs sometimes play this up with the non-English professionals, as do some of Bruce's jokes.
- Freudian Slip:
- Arlene when scoring (not the happiest of phrases perhaps) Mark Ramprakash declared outright on live television: "I just want raw sex!"
- In the 2018 final, following Stacey Dooley's Showdance, Bruno meant to refer to it as "Stacey's Greatest Hits", but a slip of the tongue resulted in the phrase coming out as "Stacey's Greatest Tits".
- The Glasses Come Off: Shirley Ballas will do the inverse of this if she has a serious point to make.
- Group Hug: The last dance of an eliminated couple will end with the other couples coming over to hug them. This didn't happen in series 18 and 19 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but came back in series 20.
- Halloween Episode: The 2010 series onwards introduced "theme nights", starting with this on the weekend closest to Halloween.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: The drums that play during the announcement of which couples are in the bottom two, as well as when the judges are deciding who to save, bring to mind a fast-paced heartbeat, likely mimicking how anxious the couples are feeling at this point.
- Hurricane of Puns: Claudia has a tendency to do lot of puns related to the contestants profession when reading out the numbers for voting.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Discussed by Richard Arnold after a disastrous foxtrot where he forgot half the routine: "We're going to be on the Internet forever!"
- Irony: Angela Scanlon in series 21 got as far as Week 10, where she danced to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. No she didn't.
- Joke Character: There will inevitably be a few celebrities each series who actively can't dance. At least one of them will probably turn into a Lethal Joke Character if they get the public vote on side, surviving over several better dancers before going out once there's nobody left they can credibly stay in ahead of.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: In the 2021 Launch Show, John Whaite was introduced to his dance partner by finding a giant cake waiting for him; he immediately and correctly guessed that Johannes was inside.
- Large Ham: Bruno was very flamboyant in episodes he appeared in, and had a habit of Chewing the Scenery and climbing up on the judge's table.
- Live but Delayed:
- Averted for the Saturday show, which has led to more than one embarrassing incident; Bruno used an expletive meaning "nonsense" live on air (the expression in question is usable before the watershed but strongly frowned upon in a show intended as wholesome family entertainment) and later compared a dance to dogs' testicles. The BBC even apologised in 2015 over his comparing of one of Jay McGuiness's dances to 'bull's bollocks'. In another incident, during an argument Len once called Craig a "silly sod".
- The Sunday results show from 2007 onwards is pre-recorded on the Saturday night. This means that the elimination is leaked by members of the audience, and in the first year the non-liveness became pretty clear when one of the celebrities appeared thirty minutes after the show had gone out doing live rugby commentary. From France.
- Long-Runner Cast Turnover: The professional lineup; by 2018, Anton was the only original pro dancer left, with the others having appeared in anything between one to eight series (out of sixteen). As of the 2021 series, he is now one of the judges, meaning that there are no professional dancers from the first series still competing in the show.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Matt Baker's romantic Viennese Waltz to a Murder Ballad "Where the Wild Roses Grow" though only the first verse and chorus were used so without knowing the whole song you could be excused for not seeing it as such.
- Modesty Shorts: Worn by Lauren Steadman for her Jive during the 2018 series. Sometimes the other female dancers wear them depending on which dance they're doing.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The opening of the voting lines are celebrated with everyone waving props around and wearing accessories (or even full costumes in a few cases), often following the theme of whichever song has been chosen to play for the announcement.
- No-Damage Run: There are often contestants who make it to the final without ever being in the dance off; this is usually a sure sign that they'll be the winner, unless another finalist has also never been in the dance off, or manages to surpass them in the public vote. For example, in 2023, Ellie Leach was the only finalist who had never been in the dance off, while Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier had been there once and twice respectively. Guess who won.
- Non-Gameplay Elimination: Several contestants have had to pull out after suffering illness, injury or bereavement (including Robert Webb, Kelly Brook and Tony Adams). John Sergeant is the only competitor to leave of his own volition (as he feared he might end up winning the series).
- The 2020 series' rules stipulated that either half of a couple testing positive for COVID-19 would automatically result in this trope; Nicola Adams ended up leaving the show after her professional partner Katya tested positive.
- Not a Mask: Craig once referred to Anton wearing fake teeth for a dance where he was dressed as Austin Powers, only to discover he wasn't, sending the studio into hysterics for a good minute.
- One-Steve Limit: Sometimes more than one celebrity taking part in a series has the same first name, (for example, Ellie Simmonds and Ellie Taylor in 2022, and Angela Rippon and Angela Scanlon in 2023). One can only imagine how they must have felt when hearing their name called in the results show, only for the name of the pro partner of the other person to be called next.
- The 2022 series had 3 celebrities with the same surname; Kaye Adams, Jayde Adams, and Tony Adams. They were even grouped together during the launch show for this reason, with Claudia calling them "The Adams Family".
- The 2023 series had an example where both a celebrity and a pro had the same first name, those being Nikita Kanda and Nikita Kuzmin respectively (though unlike most examples, they are different genders). Some people even speculated that they'd be paired together before the launch show revealed that was not the case.
- Only Known by Initials: Pro dancer AJ Pritchard (full name Alex Joseph Pritchard) but he goes by AJ, at least within the show. The 2021 series also had AJ Odudu as a contestant, who was only referred to by her initials.
- People Fall Off Chairs: Bruno has fallen out of his chair so often it has become a Running Gag. It's got to the point where he and Craig have both lampshaded it several times. When Craig impersonated Bruno in his absence, he deliberately fell out of his chair.
- A Rare Sentence: After Angela Scanlon referred to Carlos as a "Nan" in the 2023 series, Claudia asked him if he was ready to become a Nan, before saying she'd never thought she'd say that.
- Rule of Cool: The 2010 series changed the rules to allow props, leading to a few cases of this:
- Matt Baker started his Charleston on a unicycle
- Magician Paul Daniels began a routine by making his partner "appear" from inside a box
- The opening to Russell Grant's Jive in Wembley Arena: he was "fired" out of a cannon.
- Bill Bailey's finale performance to "The Show Must Go On" concluded with him pulling out an electric guitar and playing a solo with the show's house band.
- Layton Williams' Couple's Choice in Blackpool featured pole dancing, albeit fully-clothed.
- From 2020 onwards, the pairings in the Launch show were filmed in different locations that the celebrities had some sort of connection to, and they would be introduced to their professional partners in interesting ways. For example, in 2021 John Whaite's partner Johannes greeted him by Jumping Out of a Cake, and in 2023 Eddie Kadi and his partner Karen met each other after climbing up the O2 Arena.
- The Runner-Up Takes It All:
- Kara Tointon's acting career since winning series 8 has been far from poor, but runner-up Matt Baker received a bigger boost in his presenting career (his performance on the show resulted in him getting the job as host of The One Show, a role he had been passed over for before because of doubts as to how popular he was).
- It's a common occurrence for the more technically-impressive runner-ups to score musical theatre roles, as was the case with Danny Mac, Alexandra Burke, and most recently Faye Tozer.
- Since being on Strictly, Joe Sugg hosted the show's official podcast, was one of the titular presenters for the 2019 Comic Relief telethon, had a role of Ogie in the West End musical Waitress, recently guest edited The Beano and got a TV acting role in The Syndicate.
- Fleur East, one of the finalists from the 2022 series, became a co-host for It Takes Two in 2023.
- Running Gag:
- Craig's pronunciation of certain words (like "disaaaaastaaaaar", "Ah! May! Zing!" and "Chaaa chaaaa chaaaa")
- Anton Du Beke being Bruce's "love child".
- Bruno and chairs
- Darcey Bussell ending sentences with "Yah".
- Bruce's introduction of the judges, which would always end with him insulting Craig.
- Season 10 started a joke about Len and pickled walnuts.
- "Kevin from Grimsby"
- Anton getting stuck with older female contestants that can't dance and the subsequent mockery of this; this said, he has got to the final twice, with Katie Derham (2015) and Emma Barton (2019).
- Craig looking completely deadpan while wearing silly accessories during the opening of the voting lines.
- On It Takes two, there's Janette pronouncing Dianne's name with an Australian accent.
- In Season 21, one of the contestants was newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who mentioned that his son Jay was embarrassed at his father taking part in the show, but soon changed his mind and came to watch in the audience each week. This led to Claudia and the pros trying to embarrass him after Krishnan had just danced by greeting him in over-the-top ways.
- Series Mascot: Anton du Beke, the only professional dancer to take part in the first eighteen series (then transferring to the judging panel), who is the most recognizable of all pro dancers.
- Shirtless Scene:
- In one year, there was a Halloween pro dance which featured no less than five of the professional male dancers dancing topless.
- Artem's "costume" for his paso doble with Fern Britton involved him wearing nothing from the waist up. The comments that this was an attempt to get votes may not have been entirely in jest. During the 2012 season, Artem made several requests to wear even less.
- In 2021 Nikita took off his shirt during his Samba with Tilly Ramsay when they were in the dance off. It didn't do them any favours, though, and they were still eliminated. Two years later, he recounted the event on It Takes Two, seemingly embarrassed about it, when it was brought up that he'd made it past Week 10 for the first time.
- Show Stopper: A really entertaining performance will warrant a standing ovation from the audience. And in more recent years, it seems Motsi and Shirley can't stay in their seat for more than 2 consecutive dances.
- The Smurfette Principle: For years, there was only one female judge on the panel, versus three males. It was at first Arlene Philips, then Alesha Dixon and then Darcey Bussell. Although both presenters have been female since 2014note , the judging panel didn't gain a second woman until 2017 when Shirley Ballas joined Darcey Bussell as Len's replacement for head judge. When Darcey left after the 2018 series, she was replaced by Motsi Mabuse, retaining the 2-2 male-female judging panel.
- Splitting Pants: Dan Snow's trousers split during his jive, the first competitive dance of the 2023 Christmas special. It's not terribly obvious, but Craig immediately points it out in his judges' comments.
- Squee: In series 21, Nikita let out an excited squeal after being asked to reveal which dances he and Layton Williams would be doing in the semi-final.
- Team Dad: Len Goodman, head judge and on the whole one of the most generous judges. He's warm towards contestants, adding the human touch to technical criticisms.
- Technician Versus Performer:
- Quite a lot of dancers fit the trope, and the younger performers often provide a serious challenge for the technicians, as their skill increases over the course of the series, but the technicians never learn to really sell a dance. The case in point in 2009 is Chris Hollins, who started off poorly skilled but a good performer, and by the end was both skilled AND a good performer.
- Among how the judges make their decisions, Craig tends to make more technical comments, while Bruno tends to focus on the 'feel'. The other judges tended to fall somewhere in between.
- Too Qualified to Apply: The show is nominally about celebrities learning to dance, and viewers tend to not take to celebrities they perceive as having had prior experience, who often end up in the dance off multiple times, and who are either eventually eliminated or don't win the final. This perhaps reached its apex with the 2018 series, which featured at least two celebrities predominantly already known for dancing (Ashley Roberts and Danny John-Jules). The stipulation in such cases is that they may have dance backgrounds, but not in Latin or Ballroom, which they have to learn from scratch. It has also been noted that celebrities with ballet training in their background often struggle, especially with the Latin dances, as the training required for good ballet can make Latin dances far too "clean", "prim" or "stiff".
- One of the few ballet dancers who was able to make the transition to Latin was former ballet dancer and teacher, Debbie McGee, who became a good all-rounder and 2017 finalist once she learned to "undo" her ballet training for the Ballroom and Latin techniques.
- The 2023 series had Angela Rippon, Angela Scanlon, Layton Williams and Nigel Harman, all of whom have backgrounds in different kinds of dance. It was most obvious with Layton Williams (who stressed along with the judges that he still had to learn the proper techniques of Ballroom and Latin) because he was primarily known as a broadway star, while the rest had other things they were famous for that made it easier for most viewers to overlook. Amanda Abington and Ellie Leach were also said to have had some prior dance experience.
- Two Girls to a Team: The judging panel became this with the addition of Shirley Ballas and Darcy Bussell (there had previously been strictly one female judge on the panel), and then when Darcy left, she was replaced by Motsi Mabuse.
- Vapor Wear: The support cups are attached to the dresses.
- Verbal Tic: Now that he's a judge, let Anton tell you. No really, let him tell you.
- Wholesome Crossdresser:
- Having previously done drag in the past in the past, Craig sometimes appears in the themed weeks and pro routines in drag. One notable instance was in Halloween 2022 where he and Shirley were dressed as Morticia and Gomez Addams respectively.
- Also in Halloween Week 2022, Johannes wore a dress and wig for his Hocus Pocus themed dance with Ellie Taylor. He also wore a wig along with a sparkly jumpsuit that matched Luba's in the Blackpool 2023 opening routine.
- The 2020 series had a routine where the male pros performed in drag.
- Movie Week 2023 had Layton Williams dressed as Rizzo from Grease, while Adam Thomas did a routine based on The Super Mario Bros. Movie dressed as Mario - and his partner Luba was dressed not as Princess Peach, but as Luigi.
- Halloween 2023 had Layton in drag for his Tango with Nikita, who wore a skirt in the pro dance opener of the following results show.
