Strictly Come Dancing speculation is rife ahead of the 2026 launch show, and fans reckon they’re putting the pieces together on who is paired with whom.
The BBC programme’s new era kicks off on September 19, when Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe make their debut as hosts after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s exits.
Joining them will be five new professional dancers – Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby, and Mark Karmalita – following a mass cull which saw long-timers including Karen Hauer and Nadiya Bychkova dropped.
This year, celebrity contestants will find out their pro partners in front of the studio audience, marking another shake-up to tradition.
But with excitement palpable among the Strictly fan base, some internet sleuths reckon they know what’s coming, since the launch show has already been recorded.
Get personalised updates on Strictly
Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.
Taking to Reddit with their theories, users explained that they have been monitoring the Instagram activity of this year’s cast, which includes Dani Dyer, Lacey Turner, Will Best, Chris Appleton, and more.
Consequently, they’ve noticed that certain celebs have started following certain pros, suggesting that could be who they are partnered with.
For some, they are only following one pro of the opposite sex, which fans have taken as a ‘significant’ clue.
Similarly, some professionals have started following select stars from the line-up, fuelling rumours that they will be dancing together.
This isn’t confirmed, of course, but as viewers count down the days to the new season, it seems any sliver of a Strictly spoiler is hot gossip.
One Reddit user even noticed that a pro had followed a celebrity’s husband, while the celeb in question followed the pro’s girlfriend, implying a personal connection.
PresentNature8277 said they are ‘desperate’ for spoilers as anticipation builds, while erinnnnb_ admitted they’ve found some of the rumours about pairings ‘very surprising’.
Responsible_Walk2503 predicted ‘outrage’ if a fan-favourite pro is ‘benched’ and left without a partner, while Solid_Aardvark9598 is hopeful the newbies will get partners to ‘freshen’ things up.
However, we’ll have to wait until next week to find out for certain who is going to be waltzing with whom, given that someone who attended the launch show recording suggested online theorists could be way off the mark.
Setting the cat among the pigeons, erm_helloo commented, ‘I went to the filming and I can tell you that one of your “confirmed” pairings is wrong’, without divulging further details of what went down.
For the past several series, Strictly contestants have found out their pro partners away from the studio in VTs, which are then played during the launch episode.
But this time, we’re going back to the old ways of how the show used to unveil partnerships, as the celebrities will have their pro revealed to them in the studio via three specially choreographed group routines.
This was the case from 2010 to 2019, switching to pre-recorded VTs in 2020 due to Covid.
With this year’s launch show already done and dusted, one contestant, Melanie Walters, has confirmed she already knows who she’ll be cha-chaing with.
Speaking on Morning Live this week, she teased: ‘We haven’t done an awful lot, to be honest with you. We’ve done some group dances, and we have recorded the launch show. So, that’s all we’ve done.
‘We haven’t started training yet, so that’s gonna start on Monday… I can’t wait, actually.’
Host Gethin Jones then probed: ‘Hang on a minute, though. This means that you know who your partner is?’
Melanie tentatively confirmed ‘yes’, before backtracking: ‘I’m literally not saying anything! No, no, no, no.’
On the new format, she did say: ‘Actually, it’s a very exciting way to find out who are people’s partners.
‘I won’t give too much away, but it’s a really different way of finding things out, and it was a great idea.’
The Gavin and Stacey star will compete for the Glitter Ball trophy alongside Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb, actress Jaime Winstone, singer Delta Goodrem, Love Island’s Cach Mercer, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, and Olympic skeleton racer Tabby Stoecker.
Also returning are all four judges, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke.
The Strictly Come Dancing 2026 launch show airs on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday, September 19, at 7.25pm.