Strictly Come Dancing will return to BBC One on Sunday, October 4, for the first results show of the 2026 series, with the cast of Matilda The Musical set to perform.
After the opening live show, the show’s 15 celebrity couples are facing their first anxious wait to discover which two will be forced into the dance-off.
The results show will air at 7.10pm on Sunday, October 4, with no live Strictly programme taking place this week. When the competition resumes, viewers will see the first two couples at risk of elimination go head-to-head before the judges decide who will become the first celebrity to leave the dance floor.
The episode will also feature a spectacular professional performance, with Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood leading the professional dancers in a high-fashion group number.
There will be a further musical highlight as the cast of Tim Minchin and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical take to the Strictly stage for a special performance.
The return of Strictly will therefore combine the tension of the first elimination with two major entertainment performances, as the 2026 competition begins to take shape.
The results show will be presented by Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes ‘Jojo’ Radebe, who are taking on presenting duties for the new series.
The trio will reveal the two couples at the bottom of the leaderboard before those couples perform again in the dance-off.
The judging panel remains Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke, who will ultimately decide which couple stays in the competition.
With all 15 couples still technically in contention when the series returns, the stakes will immediately be raised. By the end of the October 4 programme, however, one celebrity’s Strictly journey will be over.
Strictly Come Dancing returns with its first results show on Sunday, October 4 at 7.10pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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