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PROTECT THE DOLLS! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️ In this episode of Strictly Speaking, we discuss the highs and lows of Week 3 of Strictly Come Dancing 2026. We talk about all the couples' dances, including the under marking of Will, Lawrence and Tabby, the confusing comments towards John and Jaime, and the ridiculous decisions made during some of the performances.  We also talk about the devastating news that Delta has had to withdraw from Icon Week due to injury, Jowita's attempts at wishful thinking singing, and a bunch of useless facts that I've collected over the past week.  Strictly have also found themselves in quite a bit of controversy this week, when people realised they had blurred the pro-transgender statement "Protect The Dolls" from Bethany Antonia's T-Shirt during her training VT. Trans rights are human rights🏳️‍⚧️ Strictly Come Dancing is available on BBC iPlayer. Week 3 premiered on the 10th October 2026, and the results show was the following night.  Strictly Come Dancing is presented by Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe, and the judges are Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.  The celebrities for this year include Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Graeme Hall, Lawrence Robb, Tabby Stoecker, John Nellis and Melanie Walters.  Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two was hosted by Ellie Taylor, who replaced Janette Manrara and Fleur East.  The returning professionals include Carlos Gu, Alexis Warr, Nikita Kuzmin, Julian Caillon, Katya Jones, Aljaz Skorjanec, Kai Widdrington, Vito Coppola, Lauren Oakley, Dianne Buswell, Jowita Przystał, Amy Dowden, Neil Jones, and Nancy Xu.  The new professionals are Cristian Priori, Lothabo Monametsi, Mark Karmalita, Aleksandra Isaeva, and Maddie Ingoldsby. This week's dances: Lacey and Vito danced a samba to 'Bamboleo' by Gipsy Kings Will and Dianne danced a waltz to 'With You I'm Born Again' by Billy Preston and Syreeta Shaun and Alexis danced a quickstep to 'I'm A Believer' by The Monkees Cach and Maddie danced their couple's choice to 'Beware.. The South London Lover Boy' by Raye Jaime and Carlos danced a Viennese waltz to 'Never Tear Us Apart' by INXS Melanie and Aljaz danced a 'charleston' to 'Ooh Ahh... Just A Little Bit' by Gina G. Dame Sarah and Julian danced a Paso doble to 'California Dreamin'' by Sia Delta and Kai danced a salsa to 'Ain't Nobody' by Chaka Khan Lawrence and Jowita danced a rumba to 'back to friends' by sombr Dani and Nikita danced a tango to 'Show Me Love' by Robin S Graeme and Lauren danced a jive to 'Reet Petite" by Jackie Wilson John and Katya danced a cha cha cha to 'Rock Your Body' by Justin Timberlake Bethany and Nancy danced an American smooth to 'Love Song' by Sara Bareilles Tabby and Mark danced an Argentine tango to 'hate that i made you love me' by Ariana Grande

Poor Amy.  We are back with our full review of Strictly's annual trip to the movies, this year earlier than usual. For the first time in Strictly history, all 15 couples got to compete in a themed week. Unfortunately, only 14 of them made the cut for next week... In this episode of Strictly Speaking, me and Poppy dissect Week 2 of Strictly Come Dancing 2026, including the judges bizarre treatment of Will and Dianne and Shaun and Alexis, the strange choices made by John and Katya and Bethany and Nancy, and the potential winning chances of Lacey and Vito, Delta and Kai and Graeme and Lauren.  We also get into the controversial results show, which saw Jaime and Carlos landing in the bottom 2 along with Chris and Amy, and we make some bold predictions for who could be next on the chopping block.  Strictly Come Dancing is available on BBC iPlayer. Week 2 premiered on Saturday 3rd October 2026, and the results show the following day. Dani and Nikita performed a foxtrot to 'Beauty and the Beast', from the 1991 film of the same name. John and Katya performed their couples choice to 'An Irish Party in Third Class' from the 1997 film 'Titanic'. Delta and Kai performed an American smooth to 'I'll Never Love Again' from the 2018 film 'A Star Is Born'. Chris and Amy performed a cha cha cha to 'I'm Always Here', from the 2017 film 'Baywatch', which is based on the 1989 series of the same name. Lawrence and Jowita performed a Viennese waltz to 'Le Festin' from the 2007 film 'Ratatouille'. Dame Sarah and Julian performed a charleston to 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' from the 1964 film 'Mary Poppins'. Graeme and Lauren performed a waltz to 'The Godfather Waltz' from the 1972 film 'The Godfather'. Will and Dianne performed a foxtrot to 'Old Time Rock & Roll' from the 1983 film 'Risky Business'. Jaime and Carlos performed a cha cha cha to 'Pretty Woman' from the 1990 film of the same name. Melanie and Aljaz performed a waltz to 'Edelweiss' from the 1965 film 'The Sound Of Music'. Cach and Maddie performed a samba to 'We Go Together' from the 1978 film 'Grease'. Tabby and Mark performed an American smooth to 'Rewrite The Stars' from the 2017 film 'The Greatest Showman'. Bethany and Nancy performed a Paso doble to 'No Good Deed' from the 2025 film 'Wicked: For Good'.  Lacey and Vito performed a quickstep to 'I Knew It, I Knew You', from the 2026 film Toy Story 5. Shaun and Alexis performed a salsa to 'You Should Be Dancing' from the 1977 film 'Saturday Night Fever'.

Here it is! Our first official weekly review for Strictly Come Dancing 2026. In this episode, we discuss all of the dances from Week 1, including the genuine surprises of John Nellis, Lacey Turner and Tabby Stoecker, the under marking of Will Best, Chris Appleton and Cach Mercer, and our concerns for contestants such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Melanie Walters and Dame Sarah Storey.  We also get into our thoughts regarding the schedule shake up, with Movie Week being moved forward, and also some of the controversial decisions the producers have made for It Takes Two. I also discovered a rabbit hole on BBC iPlayer, as we discuss the most daring question any of us have ever asked: is there too much Strictly?  Also, happy 91st birthday to the icon and legend Dame Julie Andrews! Strictly Come Dancing is available on BBC iPlayer. Jordan Cant's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com... Strictly Come Dancing week 1 premiered on Saturday 26th September on BBC One and iPlayer. Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe took over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, and the judges are Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.  Last year's series was won by Karen Carney and Carlos Gu, who beat George Clarke and Alexis Warr and Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.  The celebrities for this year include Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Graeme Hall, Lawrence Robb, Tabby Stoecker, John Nellis and Melanie Walters.  Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two was hosted by Ellie Taylor, who replaced Janette Manrara and Fleur East.  The returning professionals include Carlos Gu, Alexis Warr, Nikita Kuzmin, Julian Caillon, Katya Jones, Aljaz Skorjanec, Kai Widdrington, Vito Coppola, Lauren Oakley, Dianne Buswell, Jowita Przystał, Amy Dowden, Neil Jones, and Nancy Xu.  The new professionals are Cristian Priori, Lothabo Monametsi, Mark Karmalita, Aleksandra Isaeva, and Maddie Ingoldsby.   Will and Dianne performed a samba to 'Rock DJ' by Robbie Williams. Tabby and Mark performed a jive to 'Animal' by Katseye. Dame Sarah and Julian performed a quickstep to 'C'est Magnifique' by Kay Starr. Lawrence and Jowita performed a paso doble to 'Aperture' by Harry Styles. Shaun and Alexis performed a cha cha cha to 'Lil Boo Thang' by Paul Russell. Bethany and Nancy performed a quickstep to 'Stop This Flame' by Celeste. Lacey and Vito performed a cha cha cha to 'How Will I Know' by Whitney Houston. Chris and Amy performed a tango to 'No Roots' by Alice Merton. Melanie and Aljaz performed a cha cha cha to 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' by Elton John and Kiki Dee. Cach and Maddie performed a quickstep to 'I Just Might' by Bruno Mars. Graeme and Lauren performed a cha cha cha to 'Hound Dog'. Jaime and Carlos performed a tango to 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer. Dani and Nikita performed a samba to 'Lush Life' by Zara Larsson. John and Katya performed a foxtrot to 'Ordinary' by Alex Warren. Delta and Kai performed a samba to 'Baiana' by Barbatuques.

We are back for our fifth year! As a new era of Strictly approaches, me and Poppy are back to reminisce on last year's final, and share our thoughts on the new celebrity lineup, the professionals who were not asked back, who we think each celebrity will be partnered with, and our ideas for Movie Week and Icon Week.  We also discuss experiences at the Strictly Live Tour and the Professionals tour, share predictions for who could potentially do well in the competition, and discuss the interesting ways Strictly has decided to change some things this year... Who are you rooting for this year? Strictly Come Dancing premiers on Saturday 19th September on BBC One and iPlayer. Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe will take over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, and the judges are Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.  Last year's series was won by Karen Carney and Carlos Gu, who beat George Clarke and Alexis Warr and Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.  The celebrities for this year include Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Graeme Hall, Lawrence Robb, Tabby Stoecker, John Nellis and Melanie Walters.  Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two will be hosted by Ellie Taylor, who is replacing Janette Manrara and Fleur East.  The professionals not returning for this series are Karen Hauer, Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas.  The returning professionals include Carlos Gu, Alexis Warr, Nikita Kuzmin, Julian Caillon, Katya Jones, Aljaz Skorjanec, Kai Widdrington, Vito Coppola, Lauren Oakley, Dianne Buswell, Jowita Przystał, Amy Dowden, Neil Jones, and Nancy Xu.  They will be joined by new professionals Cristian Priori, Lothabo Monametsi, Mark Karmalita, Aleksandra Isaeva, and Maddie Ingoldsby.  Movies mentioned: Wuthering Heights, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Inside Out, Tangled, Toy Story 5, Spider-Man, The Odyssey, Project Hail Mary, The Bride!  Icons Mentioned: Dolly Parton, Bonnie Tyler, Julie Andrews, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Shania Twain, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Liza Minelli, Bob Marley, Kate Bush

That's it... we've made it to the end of the year... Sorry this isn't a full episode of Strictly Speaking, but I just want to take the time to thank the listeners as well as give some quick thoughts on the FAB-U-LOUS final of Strictly Come Dancing 2025. Congratulations to the incredible winners Karen and Carlos, and to the amazing runners up George and Alexis and Amber and Nikita. Thank you to the cast of 2025 for making this series as "marvellous" as it was.  Also, a big thank you to the legendary Tess and Claudia, we are very grateful that you made Strictly what it is over the last decade, the ballroom will not be the same without you, but we wish you the best of luck. Again, thank you to everyone who has checked out Strictly Speaking this year, and hopefully we'll be back in 2026!

What a week that was... After what is arguably Strictly's most shocking elimination of all time, Janet and Poppy are here to dissect this year's musical special. They talk about Lewis and Katya's unexpected exit from the competition, the incredible potential of the four semi finalists, and they get into a debate about whether The Greatest Showman is a movie or a musical. Also, please remember that at the end of the day, this is all just a television show, and it is never okay to send hate to anyone. Even if you're upset about what happened this week, there's no need to drag others down.

Welcome to a very late edition of Strictly Speaking. Musical week has definitely not happened yet, so Janet and Poppy are going to talk about what is definitely the latest episode of Strictly, week 10. They discuss Alex and Jojo's elimination and whether we think Jojo might be leaving Strictly, Balvinder's new dance off record, Karen and Amber's perfect dances and the absolute insanity of the new Instant Dance challenge. They also get into their "predictions" for Musicals week.

What a rollercoaster this week has been! This week on Strictly Speaking, we discuss all about this year's trip to the Tower Ballroom, including Karen Carney's robbery of a perfect 40, Balvinder's dream come true, the returning celeb's dance, this year's Christmas contestants and Janet's scepticism towards the new 'instant dance' twist scheduled for week 10. We also say an emotional goodbye to La Voix, who sadly had to withdraw from the competition due to injury, and we share our predictions for the upcoming dance off.

They're back! After a week off, Janet and Poppy are here to discuss weeks 7 & 8 of Strictly! They talk about the dances from the last two weeks, the shocking eliminations of Harry and Vicky, La Voix's unfortunate withdrawal from Blackpool and the crazy trajectories that the other couples have had over these past two live shows. They also give their final predictions for the much anticipated Blackpool show this week and who they think will be in the final (and seeing if they match up to who they think should be in the final!).

It's that time of year again! Time for Janet and Poppy to discuss the Strictly Come Dancing Halloween special! In this episode, they discuss everything about Week 6 of Strictly, from the heart-breaking elimination of Ellie and Vito, to Lewis and Katya's perfect score, to Karen and Carlo's great comeback. We also share our winner predictions, what we think about Shirley's criticism towards Amber and Janet talks about her experience seeing La Voix live this week.

Happy Halloween! This week's episode of Strictly Speaking is a little different, since Janet and Poppy were not able to arrange a good time to speak to each other, so instead they recorded their thoughts on this week separately and then Janet spliced it together, but hopefully we should be back to normal next week. This week was the first shocking elimination of the series, Jimmy and Lauren. Janet and Poppy would be lying if they said they weren't devastated. Janet also wanted to share her thoughts on certain opinions that other Strictly fans have shared online about George, Alex and Ellie, and Janet and Poppy give their predictions for the Halloween special that is happening... the day after Halloween...

To say this week has been chaotic and devastating in the Strictly Come Dancing cinematic universe would be a bit of an understatement. In this episode of Strictly Speaking, we discuss all things Week 4, including the under marking of Karen and Amber, who we think will be in the final, and the questionable comments from Shirley to La Voix. We also discuss the breaking news of Tess and Claudia's shocking announcement that they will be leaving the show after this series, and we share our suggestions for who could replace them... There was also the very devastating news that Stefan has had to withdraw from the series due to injury, so we reflect on his performance from this past week and we address the absurd conspiracy theories about Dianne being the reason for his withdrawal.

Predicting 10s for Amber this week! This week on Strictly Speaking, Janet and Poppy discuss one of Janet's personal Strictly favourites, Movie Week! Although Janet personally felt something was off this year, and has spent the last few days trying to figure out what was missing... or rather, who was missing... We also discuss how George Clarke was done dirty by the producers with his Couple's Choice to Soda Pop, our predictions for the upcoming week 4, and we say an emotional goodbye to Janet's guilty pleasure couple, Ross and Jowita.

We're back, and we're here to discuss Week 2 of Strictly Come Dancing! In this episode, we talk about the first elimination, what we thought of all the couples' dances, and our mixed opinions on the format change of the results show. We also send all our love to the wonderful Amy Dowden.

A lot has happened in the Strictly Come Dancing universe since we last spoke!   In this episode, we discuss the highs and lows of week 1 of Strictly. We talk about the surprises (both good and bad), Dianne's amazing baby news and how incredible she is, who we will be voting for this weekend and predictions for who could possibly be first out.