Strictly Come Dancing: the launch show – live

The ballroom extravaganza is back – and for the first time ever, the hosts are generating more excitement than the contestants. How will the new presenting trio fare?

Strictly is back, back, back! Almost as importantly, so is our sequin-spangled liveblog. Good evening all and welcome to the 24th series of Strictly Come Dancing. I’m Michael, your virtual dance partner from tonight until Christmas. I hope you’ll join me for another life-affirming autumn of glitz, glamour and giddy entertainment.

It’s all change beneath the glitterball. After long-serving, much-loved presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman bowed out at Christmas (sob), a new hosting line-up was needed. The BBC surprised us all by replacing them with not one, not two, but three fresh faces: safe-pair-of-hands Emma Willis, wild card comedian Josh Widdicombe and professional dancer Johannes Radebe to provide hoofing expertise.

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