It’s that time of year again! The celebrity and professional dancers are hitting the road for the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour to waltz away the winter blues.
Across 30 shows at arenas up and down the country, they'll be donning fabulous costumes and slipping on their dancing shoes to showcase the amazing routines and fantastic choreography that are synonymous with the BBC1 award-winning series.
This year's extravaganza begins at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on 17 January and then travels to some of the UK’s biggest entertainment venues as it calls at Utilita Arena Sheffield, Utilita Arena Newcastle, OVO Hydro Glasgow, M&S Bank Arena Liverpool, First Direct Arena Leeds, AO Arena Manchester, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and finally The O2 in London, with a final show there on 9 February.
Fans can expect all the glitz, glamour and sequins from the TV show super-sized for arena audiences. Strictly star and It Takes Two co-presenter Janette Manrara will be hosting for the fourth year in a row and judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood (who is again on directing duties) will be on hand to dole out wisdom, advice and their scores.
Motsi Mabusi will also be joining the tour’s judging panel for the first time and says: "I'm thrilled to be joining my fellow TV judges Shirley, Anton and Craig on the Strictly Live Tour. I've heard so much about the incredible audiences that come to the shows across the country - it will be such a joy to be part of that magic."
The judges will have their say, but it's up to the audience to choose who wins the Glitterball Trophy at the end of each show. A text for their favourite couple, sent from the comfort of their seats, will help decide the victors, with seven couples vying for the trophy - or rather 7.5 couples as one celeb is getting not one but two professional partners.
Finalists Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola are hoping to take Strictly's top prize on the tour. "If I could just get my hands on it," the actress grins, "that would be amazing. I had such a great time on the show. I'd danced in musical theatre before but I tend to throw myself about, whereas with Latin and ballroom it's all about the detail. I've got a whole new appreciation for it now."
Vito laughs. "At the beginning of the week Sarah was like 'I'm not going to do that', then she'd go home, sleep on it and the next day she could do it. I haven't told her too much about the arena tour because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but the reaction from the crowd is incredible. Doing Strictly on TV is the cake and the tour is the icing on top of it."
Best known for the sitcom Miranda, Hadland grins again. "I've done musicals and plays but in small venues, never arenas, so I can't wait. And afterwards I really want to keep up the dancing because I absolutely love it, but it'll have to be with Vito!"
Sarah's fellow finalist JB Gill is the lucky guy who gets two dance partners on the tour, namely Amy Dowden and Lauren Oakley. It's a first for the Strictly tour. "And I feel really spoiled," says the JLS singer turned presenter and farmer, "because they are both amazing dancers. Unfortunately my journey with Amy was cut short but then I got to dance with Lauren and go all the way through to the final. There's a lot that Amy's been through, so it's great that she's back for the tour. And I loved doing Strictly so I'm happy that I get to continue the dancing. It was challenging and full-on, with lots of ups and downs, but it was like the best rollercoaster ride ever. It was difficult physically, but I learned so much about myself."
Forced to withdraw in week six because of a foot injury, Amy is thrilled to be back on the dance floor. "I'm going to enjoy every second of it," she says. "It was heartbreaking having to pull out halfway through. Obviously we didn't expect our journey to end the way it did for us, but I was so happy that JB was able to continue with Lauren and make it to the final."
Lauren, who stepped in as JB's partner in week seven, says: "Both mine and Amy's main aim was to make sure the transition was as smooth as possible for JB. She put in some amazing groundwork with him and I felt a responsibility to carry that forward. He's such a talented dancer, so he was lovely to teach. And I've never done the tour before, so that's a nice bonus."
Aljaž Škorjanec, who is partnered with Tasha Ghouri, is a tour veteran and beams: "It's such a crazy feeling standing in the middle of arenas where all these people have come to see you dance. You see what Strictly does to them; you see the smiles and the happy faces and that fuels you."
Having returned to the TV show last year after a two year break, he adds: "I fell in love with it all over again and I've never seen anyone learn as quickly as Tasha did." The former Love Island contestant and advocate for the deaf community didn't hesitate to say yes to doing it. "For me it's about representation," she says. “It’s been so special to be able to connect with young children and parents who have deaf children." She smiles.
"And I'm not finished with the dancing yet. I want to keep going because I'm really passionate about it. When I was younger, I didn't have anyone to look up to on the show." Then Rose Ayling-Ellis won Strictly in 2021. "She opened up that door for me and it's been an absolute joy to be a part of it."
For Olympic athlete and Gladiators star Montell Douglas, Strictly must have been a doddle, right? "Not at all," she admits. "I've had a lot of physical challenges in my life but Strictly was one of the hardest ever. As a sportswoman, I'm confident under pressure, but having to learn a dance in four days, then perform it live on national television is a completely different ballgame."
She was happy to get feedback from the judges on TV. "But on the tour I'm just here to have fun and I don't want to hear anything about the frame or the toes. I'm going to get it right anyway, so they won't have anything bad to say!"
On TV Montell was paired with Johannes Radebe, but on tour she's dancing with Kai Widdrington. "I get to reap the rewards of Johannes' teaching during the show," Kai laughs. "He turned Montell into a fabulous dancer and I get to work with her at the amazing standard she's at now. With the tour, I always say to the celebs 'Take it all in and enjoy every single moment of it' because it may be the only time they'll get to dance in arenas in front of thousands of people."
Dancing with Michelle Tsiakkas, EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick says: "It's been one of the best experiences of my whole life and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was Michelle's first partner and she's been absolutely brilliant. She realised my strengths and my weaknesses, and I feel that I've now got a friend for life."
Given that Jamie had won the Strictly Christmas Special in 2023, did he think "I've got this"? He shakes his head. "It was actually the opposite. I remember the first week thinking 'Well, Strictly's humbled me very quickly' because it takes so much work and dedication."
Michelle agrees. "I think Jamie started off with high expectations from people because he had just won the Christmas special, but that was just one dance. But he put in the hard work, time and effort, and I'm so proud of him."
As for the phenomenal success of Strictly, she adds: "Every year we try to push boundaries and make things better and better, and there are so many people behind the scenes who make the show what it is. Each department is at the top of their game."
On tour the couples will get to perform their favourite dances from the TV show, as well as spectacular group numbers. Joining them on the tour dates (which will again feature a British Sign Language interpreter on screens on either side of the stage) will be professional dancers Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Jowita Przystał, Robbie Kmetoni and Jake Leigh.
Katya Jones was part of the professional troupe on the last tour, but this year she gets to hot-foot it with opera singer Wynne Evans. Apart from a single ballroom lesson when he was a kid, Wynne had never danced before and recalls: "I surprised myself as the show went on and I think I surprised other people as well."
He and Katya were eliminated in the eighth week. "And that was a bit disappointing, but the reaction from the public has been amazing. I was thinking 'Maybe I've let people down but they'd come up to me in the street going 'Congratulations!'"
"Wait until the tour starts!" Katya tells him. "They scream, they stomp their feet, they absolutely adore it. That's the beauty of Strictly. No-one wants you to fail, they want to cheer you on. One of the most wonderful comments I've ever heard, after we did the routine with Wynne as Mrs Doubtfire, was 'Robin Williams is watching from above and having a great time'."
Having left the show in week seven, Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu are excited to be back together. "We had a great innings," says the X Factor-winning singer and actor, "but I was sad to leave so soon. Now we get to dance every night, and this time it's up to the audience to vote on who gets the Glitterball Trophy. I'll be honest, I want one!"
And if the judges get critical? "That's fine, and on the tour I reckon it's OK to have a bit of banter with them. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Nancy has danced with Shayne, Rhys Stephenson and Will Mellor over the last couple of years and says: "Just as much as the celebrities learn from me, I learn from them. It's important for me to get to know who they are, so to have been able to spend time with Shayne and his beautiful family is wonderful."
As for the live tour, she smiles: "For me it's a really exciting part of doing Strictly. People come along to see their favourite couples and it's just such fun. It's like we're inviting them to the best party in the world."
And what a party it's going to be - bigger, better and more sequin-filled than ever. The Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour comes to Newcastle, Utilita Arena on 22-23 January.
