New host Emma Willis has revealed that Strictly Come Dancing bosses employed James Bond-style spy tactics to maintain secrecy around the upcoming series, including blacked-out studios, mystery car journeys, and venues without addresses.
Secrecy Like Casting a Bond Film
Emma's husband, Matt Willis, told Magic Radio Breakfast that the process was kept highly confidential. "In our house it was such a secret, the whole process was like casting the next Bond! Secret addresses, turning up to studios that were blacked out, everything about it was so secretive. I was like this is so exciting!" the Busted star said.
Even TV veteran Emma was kept in the dark by nervous Strictly bosses. "We didn’t know where we were going - we were just put in a car. But I’m so excited. We’ve literally just started and now it feels real and I can’t wait, I’m getting all tingly," she said.
New Hosting Team and Catchphrase Plans
Strictly fans have become accustomed to former hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly signing off each episode with the catchphrase 'Keeeep dancing'. The new trio of Emma, Josh Widdicombe, and professional dancer Johannes Radebe are still deciding whether to adopt the same script or create something new.
"Well that is difficult with three," admitted Emma, referring to the old catchphrase. "At the minute we’re having like loads of production days and we’re playing with who’s with who and how does it work – but I should imagine we’ll need to have something!"
Contestant Will Best on First Day
Contestant Will Best revealed this week that the cast are still working out who they will dance with on the new series. The Hits Radio host said: "We had our first official day and it was really sweet. All the team, the producers did little speeches talking about how it’s a big family and everyone’s really nice and it did feel like that."
"I learnt a lot about myself in terms of how I dance - it’s obviously the first day I’d done any ballroom dancing, and the pros were there and we were doing little dance masterclasses with them."
All the celebrities got to show off their best moves and then worked with different pro dancers, but Best is keeping his partner a secret for now. He added: "The male celebs would stand in a circle facing outwards and the female pros would dance with each of you really quickly for a few seconds, a few bars, and then they move on to the next person going round in these circles."
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this September for its new series. The launch show is recorded on September 9, with the broadcast expected to air mid-September 2026.
