Strictly Come Dancing 2026 Opener Review: A Bold New Era Begins in Series 24

The Strictly Come Dancing series opener for 2026 has now been broadcast – and it is something else.  The show, which is now in its 24^th season, opened with a launch show complete with celebrities, presenters, judges and professional dancers taking to the stage to present an opener which fans will be talking about for years to come.  Like another of the BBC’s flagship shows, Doctor Who, Strictly has just undergone something of a regeneration. For readers outside the UK, Strictly is the British format that inspired the American hit Dancing with the Stars.  This opener reflects the rebirth (renaissance?) of the show by introducing us (eventually) to the show’s new presenters, Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe.  This change was reflected in the sharing of presenting duties during the show, which created a distinctly new feel.

Back to the opener, a clapboard announces the show and the opening notes of Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer (was that chosen deliberately to indicate the sledgehammer that might be taken to the show’s format? Who can say!) and off we go into a dizzyingly colourful Hollywood set, where cast and crew are preparing to put on the show – and they’re already putting on the show. The opening number (well, numbers as it is a montage, after all) is kicked off by Motsi Mabuse, is a long-standing professional dancer and is part of the show's returning judging panel alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, and Anton Du Beke for this 24th series.

The focus quickly shifts to a vibrant, rhythmic musical production. The mood transitions from the news studio into a stylized, high-production performance space.  Then, of course, we have to have the elaborate ballroom dance sequences, to give a taste of the professional artistry, synchronization, and the scale of the production for the new series.  Some of the returning dancers are Dianne Buswell, Nikita Kuzmin, Katya Jones and Jowita Przystał who all strut their stuff in this remarkable opener. If this is anything to go by, this series will be the most expensive – my grandmother would have said “they’ve spent a bob or two on that” while she sucked on a sherbet lemon.

I doubt very much that she would have recognised many of the celebrities who have joined the show this year.  If there were any in the opener, they didn't register with me.  Perhaps I am not up enough on my Eastenders actors, ex-footballers and YouTubers - but I suspect that many will be seeing Strictlty as positive exposure for their not-so-glittering careers. OK, I'm sure they're all lovely people and I probably have been hiding under a rock!

The performance culminates in an enthusiastic, choreographed routine that confirms the start of the new series with the iconic show sign-off, now proclaimed by Emma Willis: "This is Strictly Come Dancing".    Loud, yes? Gorgeous? Absolutely? Is this regeneration going to satisfy the fans? Only time will tell, but the BBC isn’t going half-measures on the show, if this is anything to go by! Here is the entire opener for Season 24 (2026) of Strictly Come Dancing.