“Wow, this is the best line-up ever… said nobody.”
It took one Strictly Come Dancing fan less than two minutes – just 120 seconds – to deliver their honest opinion on the 2026 line-up after actress Melanie Walters’ unveiling completed the list on Wednesday.
I’d barely even scrolled through the Instagram comments. There was, of course, the usual blend of pro dancers welcoming the latest celebrity arrival, but beyond that, complaints rained in.
The clichés and moans emerge every year. The BBC unveils its list of so-called famous faces gearing up for the dancefloor, and each contestant is met by a chorus of Hedwigs hooting: “Who?”
Gavin and Stacey’s Melanie Walters was the 15th and final Strictly star unveiled
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If it happened in yesteryear to the likes of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Caroline Quentin, it was always going to happen to a bloke from Love Island and Ray Winstone’s daughter.
And in response, glitterball diehards fire back with the usual platitudes. “Just because you don’t know who they are doesn’t mean they’re not famous,” or, “You will get to know them on the show!”
That much is true, and it’s an approach I actually tend to take when watching Strictly as – whisper it quietly – a fan.
I even tend to dismiss the usual gripes over trained dancers taking to the show. I’m of the opinion that they’re needed to provide some actual quality when up against a 60-something former children’s TV presenter who struggles to catch their breath walking down the ballroom’s steps.
Dani Dyer (right) was supposed to compete on Strictly last year before withdrawing with injury
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But this year, I can’t help but feel Strictly has tripped over its tap shoes, somewhat. Moonwalked to mundanity, tangoed to tedium, cha-chaed to chagrin.
The show is in an era of vast transformation. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are gone, a large pool of pro dancers culled, and even the logo has had a makeover, all in the hope of exorcising the show of its past demons.
New faces have arrived across the board. Emma Willis is a British TV stalwart, and the incoming pros are supposedly dabhands in the TikTok-sphere as well as the ballroom.
A new era is here, and what better way to bring it in than with a star-studded stack of celebrity names? I’m not expecting Posh and Becks, but perhaps the next best thing. Or even the next one after that.
Jaime Winstone will take to the ballroom this year
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And to be fair, the first few names certainly whetted my appetite.
Lacey Turner was first up and ticked off Strictly’s soap star box. Instantly recognisable to EastEnders fans but holding the unique distinction of being a household name in her own right.
A good start. Dani Dyer soon followed. Say what you will about former Love Island stars appearing on the dancefloor, she’s certainly a cut above the usual 20-somethings flogging teeth whiteners and cryptocurrency on Instagram.
Aussie singer Delta Goodrem was the third announced. Platinum-selling musician recently exposed to a new audience thanks to Eurovision; I respect the credentials.
Delta Goodrem recently performed at Eurovision
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Chris Appleton was the fourth announced. I know, I know… me neither.
However, with four million followers on Instagram alone, numerous collaborations with the Kardashians, and an excitable shriek from my wife when she discovered he’d signed up, I felt assured enough that he was a good signing.
The only way was up. Oh, how wrong I was.
Cach Mercer was the fifth star announced. He won Love Island in 2025. That series attracted approximately half the viewers that Dyer’s did seven years earlier. BBC bosses missed the memo on Love Island’s dwindling popularity, it seems.
Shaun Wright-Phillips is one of England’s former midfielders
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Big Brother presenter Will Best was next up. Sure, a recognisable-ish face to reality telly viewers, but hard to shake the feeling he’s a pound shop Joel Dommett.
Dame Sarah Storey is one of Britain’s best Paralympians. I can’t knock her. And I give Strictly its flowers for incorporating disabled contestants without it feeling like a virtuous DEI box-tick exercise.
Jaime Winstone was the eighth star – beginning to use that term loosely now – to join the line-up.
I remembered her as the troubled Becky from 2006’s Kidulthood; others will remember her for her turn as a young Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders. Most will know her as Ray Winstone’s daughter.
Strictly fans responded with their usual blend of complaints
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Bethany Antonia is an actress best known for her role in the Game of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon. There are dozens in the Westerosi population I feel would’ve been bigger signings.
There are dozens of other well-known English midfielders BBC bosses could’ve signed up, too. They opted for Shaun Wright-Phillips.
A bloke who trains dogs on Channel 5 soon followed. Can you hear the enthusiasm quickstepping away yet?
Lawrence Robb is apparently quite good in Emmerdale. To the uneducated on the Yorkshire Dales, he effectively looks like a Temu Lewis Cope.
Lacey Turner is one of the more impressive signings
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Tabby Stoecher is an Olympic champion but not exactly a name that emanates star power. And I thought John Nellis was the name of a mountain in the Peak District before Strictly revealed he was actually a football vlogger.
The aforementioned Walters of Gavin and Stacey fame completed the line-up on Wednesday. 2009 me would’ve been stoked. 2026 me feels it’s a signing as exciting as a gone-off egg in one of Gwen’s omelettes.
In a year when the BBC needed to prioritise restoring Strictly to its former glory, this current crop of celebs is the dampest of all squibs.
BBC bosses are clearly relying on the format alone to draw in its audience. It plays its part, but with ratings dwindling year on year, it’s bemusing that investing in star quality wasn’t high on bosses’ priorities.
Celebrity Traitors returns in the autumn. Last year’s line-up was a diverse, stacked, and brilliant concoction of recognisable faces from all walks of celebrity.
For 2026, it bagged Maya Jama, Love Island’s sought-after presenter, not an instantly forgettable winner from last year.
Ross Kemp is heading to the castle. He played the iconic EastEnders character Grant Mitchell. Strictly signed up the actress who had a cameo as his mother in a flashback scene once or twice.
Bella Ramsay will take part. They shot to fame on Game of Thrones and now stars in HBO’s powerhouse The Last of Us. Why did Strictly have to settle for someone from a GOT spin-off whose biggest role prior was in an axed-after-one-season BBC teen drama? ‘Get Even’, heard of it?
The boat needed to be pushed out for this year’s Strictly. It hasn’t been. All that’s left to wonder is which of Ballas, Du Beke, Mabuse, or Revel Horwood will flee the sinking ship first.
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