Strictly Come Dancing 2022 is once again injecting some much-needed glitz and glamour into our Saturday and Sunday evenings.
This year is an exciting time for the TV juggernaut as the series celebrates its 20th anniversary... and now the battle for the coveted Strictly Glitterball trophy is well underway.
Hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are back presenting the nation's favorite dancing competition, which saw EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2021.
After Rose's historic win, who could we be adding to our Strictly Come Dancing winners list this year?
Here's everything we know about Strictly Come Dancing 2022...
When is the next episode of Strictly Come Dancing 2022?
This week's live show, the semi-final, will air on Sunday, December 11 at 7:15 pm, instead of airing on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the results show will be broadcast on Monday, December 12 at 8:15 pm, where we will find out who'll be dancing in this year's final.
Both the live show and results show will air on BBC One and episodes will be available on demand via BBC iPlayer.
The changes in air days are because of the World Cup 2022.
What are this week's dances on Strictly 2022?
This week Strictly Come Dancing will be putting on a dancing extravaganza as the show heads into the penultimate episode.
This week each of the celebrities will also be dancing two dances instead of the usual one.
Here are the dances they will be doing this week...
- Fleur & Vito — Charleston to Tu Vuo’ Fa L’Americano by Fiorello and a Paso Doble to The Time Is Now by Moloko
- Helen & Gorka — Argentine Tango to Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythmics and a Waltz to Only One Road by Céline Dion
- Molly & Carlos — Paso Doble to Survivor by 2WEI ft Edda Hayes and an American Smooth to Easy On Me by Adele
- Hamza & Jowita — Charleston to Pencil Full Of Lead by Paolo Nutini and a Waltz to What The World Needs Now by Burt Bacharach
- Will & Nancy — Couple’s Choice to Know How / Fools Gold / Step On Young MC / The Stone Roses / Happy Mondays and a Paso Doble to Uccen – DWTS Remix by Taalbi Brothers, DWTS
Strictly Come Dancing 2022 official line-up
Here is the full celebrity line-up taking part in Strictly 2022...
Will Mellor
Will Mellor was the first celebrity announced for this year's competition and is dancing with Nancy Xu and is already showing a lot of promise and scoring very highly with the judges.
Will has been on our TV screens for 30 years in shows like Hollyoaks, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, and most recently as Coronation Street's Harvey Gaskell, but now he's swapping the cobbles for the Strictly ballroom!
Kym Marsh
Kym Marsh was the second confirmed contestant for the 20th series and she is dancing with Graziano Di Prima. She's well known for playing Michelle Connor in Corrie, but she was also a member of the band Hear'Say and is currently a presenter on Morning Live.
Kym was the tenth celebrity to leave the show, narrowly missing out on being in the semi finals.
2022 is looking to be busy for Kym now, as she's also set to appear in Waterloo Road season 11, which is expected to air later this year!
Kym has already impressed the judges with her footwork, could she go all the way and win the glitterball trophy?
Richie Anderson
Radio and TV presenter Richie Anderson was the third confirmed contestant to take to the Strictly ballroom this year and he is dancing with Giovanni Pernice. Sadly he was the second celebrity to leave the show after finding himself in the dance off against Fleur East.
Richie will be in another all-male partnership, following in the footsteps of Strictly 2021 runner-up, John Whaite, who was partnered with Johannes Radebe.
The TV star is best known for his role on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show and hosting a wide variety of his own shows. He was in Turin earlier this year to cover the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest for the station.
Richie also has a regular presenting stint on The One Show and is often seen on BBC One.
Kaye Adams
TV and radio presenter Kaye Adams was the fourth celebrity revealed to be taking part in the nation's Week dancing competition and is dancing with Kai Widdrington.
Sadly Kaye was the first celebrity to be sent home from the competition.
The broadcaster is best known as an anchor on ITV's Loose Women and for hosting the morning show on BBC Radio Scotland. She has presented numerous programs for a variety of TV channels, including STV, the BBC and Channel 5 and started her popular podcast, How To Be 60 with Kaye Adams this year.
Kaye revealed: “I said I wanted to make the last year of my fifties memorable and I can’t think of a better way of doing it than showing the world my two left feet. Pray for me!”
Jayde Adams
Award-winning comedian, actor and presenter Jayde Adams was the fifth celebrity taking part in the 20th series and she is dancing with Karen Hauer, she became the 4th contestant to leave the show.
Jayde has won a number of comedy awards, with her Amazon Prime special Serious Black Jumper, being longlisted for an Emmy. She has starred in BBC Two BAFTA winning comedy Alma's Not Normal, the upcoming Take That movie Greatest Days, Good Omens and The Outlaws.
She has also hosted Crazy Delicious, Snackmasters and has a weekly BBC Radio 4 podcast, Welcome to the Neighbourhood.
Ellie Simmonds
Paralympian Ellie Simmonds was the sixth celebrity announced in this year's series and she is dancing with Nikita Kuzmin, she also became the sixth celebrity to leave the show.
Ellie is a gold medal-winning Paralympic swimmer, who at the age of 13, was the youngest British athlete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.
She has gone on to win an array of gold medals, including the 2012 400m freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley at the Summer Paralympics in London and another in the 200m Individual Medley at Rio in 2016.
Ellie has won ten gold World Championship titles and won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and received an MBE at the age of 14, which soon elevated to OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport.
Since retiring, Ellie has presented the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and made documentaries such as Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism? and is set to explore disability and adoption in a recently announced ITV film.
Tyler West
TV presenter, radio host and DJ Tyler West was the seventh celebrity confirmed for this year's show... he was dancing with Dianne Buswell and was voted out in week eight, which was Blackpool week.
He's known for hosting weekday afternoons on KISS and has hosted MTV News, HQ Trivia and the 2020 EE BAFTA Awards Red Carpet Live Show after starting his career in children's TV.
Last year he launched his first BBC Three series, co-hosting Flat out Fabulous and becoming the host of The MTV Movie Show.
Matt Goss
Music legend Matt Goss was the eighth celebrity taking part in this year's competition and he is dancing with Nadiya Bychkova. He was the third person to be voted out of this year's competition.
Matt is best known for being the front man of the band Bros alongside his twin brother Luke. They had huge chart success in the late 80s and 90s, earning themselves a large fanbase with songs such as "When Will I Be Famous" and "I Owe You Nothing"
After selling more than 16 million records worldwide, the brothers were also the subjects of a BAFTA-winning documentary titled Bros: After the Screaming Stops.
Matt has since gone on to have a successful solo career and will now be taking on the challenge in learning to dance.
Ellie Taylor
Comedian, broadcaster, writer and actor Ellie Taylor danced with Johannes Radebe and was the ninth celebrity to be voted out.
Week She began her career as a stand-up comedian after starring on ITV's Show Me The Funny and has written and performed five stand-up comedy shows.
Ellie has been a regular on Mock The Week, The Mash Report and Live at the Apollo, Late Night Mash on Dave and, most recently, as a co-host on Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down.
She has also appeared in Ted Lasso and her debut book My Child and Other Mistakes, became a Sunday Times bestseller in 2021.
The comedian is also set to present You Won’t Believe This (w/t) for Channel 4, as well as co-host Netflix gameshow Cheat alongside Danny Dyer.
Molly Rainford
Singer and actress Molly Rainford was the tenth famous face announced this year and she is dancing with newcomer Carlos Gu.
At just 11 years old, Molly became Britain's Got Talent's youngest ever finalist. Now at 21 years old, she has become a household name and is currently playing the titular role as intergalactic pop superstar Nova Jones in the CBBC show Nova Jones and will be reprising the character for seasons 2 and 3.
After BGT, Simon Cowell and Sony music honoured Molly with their first ever drama school scholarship at internationally renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School.
She has also released two EP's and has been shortlisted for best newcomer at the 2022 Variety Club Showbusiness Awards.
Tony Adams
Football legend Tony Adams was the eleventh celebrity announced to be taking part in this year's competition and he is dancing with Katya Jones. Tony withdrew from the competition on November 13 after finding himself in the dance-off.
He is regarded as one of Arsenal's greatest-ever players and one of the all-time greats of English football, with the formidable center-back's career spanning over 22 years.
The football icon captained both Arsenal and England and has gone down in football history with his show-stopping wins and achievements, including when he led the England team to the Euro 96 final when he was captain.
He also founded the charity Sporting Chance to help sportspeople with mental health and addiction issues, as well as 6 Addiction for people that can't afford private mental health services.
Meanwhile, he is also a patron of a number of other charities and upon retiring, went into coaching and management.
Fleur East
Singer-songwriter, TV and radio presenter Fleur East was the twelfth famous face taking to the dancefloor and she is dancing with Vito Coppola.
Fleur came second in series 11 of The X Factor and has since been a regular face in the music and broadcasting industry.
She has released two albums and after appearing on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2018, she became host of the Hits Radio Breakfast show.
Fleur also starred as a presenter on the last three series of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and a host of ITV gameshow The Void.
Hamza Yassin
Wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin was the thirteenth celebrity partaking in the series this year and he is dancing with Jowita Przystal.
Hamza is one of the presenters of BBC's Animal Park and a guest presenter on BBC's Countryfile, where he demonstrates his vast knowledge and camera skills.
For the youngsters, he is known under the guise of Ranger Hamza, presenting CBeebies live-action show Let’s Go For A Walk and new series Ranger Hamza’s Eco Quest later this month.
When he was younger, Hamza moved to the Scottish Highlands to follow his dream of filming Scottish wildlife and becoming a wildlife cameraman. Recently, he fronted Channel 4 documentary Scotland: My Life in the Wild and Scotland: Escape to the Wilderness.
James Bye
EastEnders star James Bye was announced as the 14th celebrity to join this year's Strictly lineup. He is dancing with Amy Dowden. James was the fifth celebrity to be voted off the show.
The actor, who has played Walford's Martin Fowler since 2014 is a firm favorite with soap fans and announced his exciting news on Good Morning Britain on Friday, August 12th, telling viewers that despite having had ‘quite a while’ to wrap his head around it, ‘it’s still not really sunk in’.
"I'm not known for my shimmy or my twinkle toes — in fact my kids regularly laugh at my dad dancing but it’s an honor to be asked and I’m going to give it my best shot," he's said of his new adventure. "There are some huge dance shoes to fill and it’s truly exciting to follow in the footsteps of some amazing EastEnders talent. I’d love to do everyone proud."
Helen Skelton
Summer on the Farm star Helen Skelton was the final celebrity to be announced for the 2022 Strictly Come Dancing lineup — she is dancing with Gorka Marquez.
Speaking of her new challenge Helen Skelton said: “I’m really excited to get stuck into a fun adventure. My family and friends have always loved the show and can’t wait for me to get started.”
Helen started her TV career in children’s television, presenting Newsround before going on to host Blue Peter for five years. Since then, she has presented shows including Countryfile, ITV’s Lorraine and BT Sport’s FA Women’s Super League football matches.
As a radio presenter, Helen has stood in for Dermot O’Leary and OJ Borg on BBC Radio 2, hosted various shows across BBC Radio 5 Live and has just been announced as the host of the new-look BBC Radio 5 Live Sunday morning show.
Who was voted out in Strictly Come Dancing 2022?
Week one
The first celebrity to be voted out of Strictly Come Dancing 2022 was Kaye Adams, who appeared in the dance-off against Bros singer Matt Goss. Speaking on her podcast after her exit she said: "I absolutely don't regret it for a second. I met so many wonderful people. I learned so much about myself, you'll be glad to know good things."
Week two
Richie sadly became the second person to leave Strictly Come Dancing after being voted off in Movie Week. The pair opened the show dancing a Samba and dressed as Timon and Pumba from The Lion King, but everyone was shocked when the pair ended up in the dance off against Fleur East.
Speaking of this time on the show, Richie said: "It was incredible; as a Strictly fan, opening Movie Week is such an honour. We were dancing right in front of the judges; I had some tassels on. Craig got to smile; I loved it. I totally accept the result on Sunday night. I feel so lucky I got to dance, and I’ve met some incredible people."
Week three
Music legend Matt Goss was the third celebrity to be eliminated from the competition, after competing in the dance-off against Kym Marsh.
Talking about his exit, Matt said: “It’s an extraordinary experience, I have been in America for 25 years. Thank you judges for your candour, you’ve helped me in many ways, my posture — Anton, I am more aware of it.
"This lovely lady beside me, a world champion with all the patience. I am very honoured to have danced with you, and everyone still in, I love you guys, go smash it.”
Week four
Comedian Jayde Adams and her professional partner Karen Hauer were eliminated from the competition after losing the dance-off against Molly Rainford.
Jayde said of her exit: “This has been the best thing I have ever done in my life and I will carry it to my grave, and it has been an absolute pleasure working with you [Karen] and learning about so much that will go into my own stuff, in my own work. You are one of the most gifted people I have ever worked with Karen."
Week five
James and Amy left the show in week five, which was Halloween Week, when James found himself in the dance off against Fleur East.
He told his Instagram followers following his exit: "I just wanted to send a little message to everybody as I've had some incredible support over the weekend, and it's been a crazy couple of months. So, I just wanted to quickly say thank you to every single one of you who either took the time to vote for Amy and I or just send us a message. Because I think sometimes people think that we don’t read the messages and things, but I promise you I read every single one of them."
Week six
Ellie Simmonds was the sixth celebrity to leave the show after she found herself in the dance off against Molly Rainford. Speaking about her exit on BBC Two's Strictly - It Takes Two, Ellie told host Rylan Clark: "I found yesterday and today a bit like going through a heartbreak, Strictly is everything and it's been the most incredible time. We’ve been doing it seven weeks now and now it’s all over all of a sudden. It’s so sad but I cannot wait to see them all dance incredibly. I’m going to be supporting them all the way."
Week seven
Tony Adams bowed out of the show after finding himself in the dance-off against DJ Tyler West and Dianne Buswell. Tony sadly couldn't participate due to an injury and withdrew from the competition, becoming the seventh person to leave.
After his exit Tony said on It Takes Two: "It’s a bizarre show. We’re all different age groups and we’re all different standards. I really listened to Shirley; the week before she was very complimentary and has always been constructive with her criticism. I’ve fallen in love with her; she’s my favourite."
Week eight
Tyler West and Dianne Buswell left the competition during the Blackpool special after competing in the dance-off against Molly Rainford. The radio DJ said after his departure from the show that both the contest and Dianne "changed my life". Diane also paid tribute to her dance partner saying: "I am forever grateful for being the lucky girl to be picked to dance with you. Your energy your smile your zest for life was with us from day one of the rehearsals right up to that EPIC SALSA. I am a proud teacher to have trained a size 12-footed handball champion to dance and who I now class a DANCER. Thank you so so much for being the best."
Week nine
After 10 fabulous weeks on the dance floor Ellie Taylor and Johannes Radebe became the ninth couple to bow out of the competition. Sadly their Jive to Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison left them at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 25. Ellie and Johannes found themselves in the Dance Off for the first time, going up against Fleur East and Vito Coppola — and sadly it was Ellie that the judges decided to send home.
Week 10
Kym narrowly missed out on being in the semi-finals after leaving the show in Musical's Week. The pair danced a brilliant Fame-inspired Cha Cha but ended up in the dance-off against Molly and Carlos. Kym told her Instagram followers: "Thank you so much to everyone who supported us throughout this competition! We had such a great time and I will never forget this moment in my life."
Is there a trailer for Strictly Come Dancing 2022?
Yes! The first trailer for the new season shows each of the celebrities dressed in their finery and showing off their dance moves with a huge glitterball...
Now a new trailer sees thew professional dancers back on the Strictly dance floor as they look forward to a new season of glitz and glamour...
Who is in the professional dancers line-up for Strictly Come Dancing 2022?
The professional dancers returning to the competition are Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, Jowita Prystzal, Graziano Di Prima, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu.
Newcomer Cameron Lombard will also be showing off his expert skills on the Strictly ballroom. The South African Latin Champion joined Strictly in 2021, performing in all of the show’s group numbers and across the series’ music acts, but he is yet to have a celebrity partner.
In more exciting news, Strictly Come Dancing has also announced that four new dancers will be joining the show, making it the biggest professional line-up in Strictly history.
The four new award-winning dancers competing in Strictly Come Dancing 2022 are European cup winner Vito Coppola, Chinese National Champion Carlos Gu, former Under 21s British National Champion Lauren Oakley and Latin dance champion Michelle Tsiakkas.
We also said farewell to professional dancers Aljaž Škorjanec, who decided to quit the show after nine years and Oti Mabuse who left the show after seven years.
Who are the judges for Strictly Come Dancing 2022?
Of course, the multi-award-winning competition is not complete without its fabulous judges.
On the judging panel this year are Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Head Judge Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.
Anton replaced Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli last year due to strict Coronavirus travel restrictions while he was filming in the US.
Speaking of the new season of Strictly, Anton said: "My absolute favorite thing about working on the show is the joy. The joy of the show, the joy it brings everybody, the joy it brings my family and the joy it brings me.
"I can’t believe, well I can really, that it has been going for so long and still we have a new audience coming to it every year, a new generation that are growing up with the show. There’s a wonderful feeling around the show. I love that feeling of lifting everybody up, which I think was highlighted through lockdown. The sun shines when Strictly is on."
It was also reported that Bruno had quit the show after 18 years to focus on Dancing With The Stars in the US.
According to The Daily MailBruno will not be returning to the beloved BBC show in the future and will instead be focusing solely on the dancing competition across the pond.
Their source said: "Bruno has quit the show for good. He's going to be a judge only on Dancing With The Stars from now on."
Who presents Strictly spin off show, Strictly: It Takes Two?
Former Strictly professional dancer Janette Manrara and broadcaster Rylan Clark have returned for another year as co-hosts of Strictly - It Takes Two. Rylan has been a presenter on the show since 2019, while Janette joined him in 2021 after leaving Strictly as a professional dancer.
