Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach has shared her thoughts on a “chaotic” new change this series, describing the new partnering concept as something she “literally loved”.
The beloved dancing competition has returned, with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe taking over from Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly. After the first live show aired last week, the celebrities taking part are gearing up for the first elimination this weekend, as they battle to lift the glitterball trophy in a few months.
Taking part this year are the likes of Jaime Winstone, Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey and Melanie Walters. Bethany Antonia, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Graeme Hall, Lawrence Robb, Tabby Stoecker, and John Nellis complete the 2026 cast.
Ellie Leach on the new partnering format
Former Coronation Street star Ellie danced with Vito Coppola back in 2023, going on to win the series. She has now reflected on her time in the competition, including one major change for this year. During the Strictly Come Dancing launch show, the celebrities discovered who their partners were while on the dance floor, switching between pro dancers several times before the result was called out.
“I loved the launch,” Ellie revealed. “I loved the new concept, I feel like the partnering in the dance was so chaotic, I literally loved it. I felt like it worked really well. It felt like the nostalgia of Strictly but with an extra added bit of spice, I really, really enjoyed it.”
Admitting how she would have fared in the same situation, Ellie went on: “That live switching thing, switching in the dance, I think that would have literally made me be like, ‘What is going on?’ I’m very much like, if I’ve rehearsed something with that person, I need to do it with them.
More dance elements in the launch show
“There’s also such an exciting element to that as well because the way they’ve done the partnering before, it’s not been through dance. It’s been like, you meet in a room and you chat through what you’re like.
“I think to see more of a dance element in the launch show was really nice. Usually they have the opening and they have the closing dances, and in the middle is just chatting. It was nice to have an extra bit of a dance element in there!”
Ellie was speaking amid a collaboration with The Royal Mint as Miss Scarlett for the new Cluedo 50p, after first playing Miss Scarlett in the stage production of Cluedo 2 in 2024.
Showing a different side on Strictly
The former Faye Windass went on to talk about how fans saw a different side to her on Strictly, after leaving Corrie after more than a decade. She said: “When you are used to seeing someone be one person for 13 years, it’s hard to break that view.
“I loved being able to show people my personality and people got on board with me and Vito and they just saw that what you see is what you get. We had the most amazing time, and we had so much fun and built a massive friendship for life. So yeah, I was just really glad they could see that.”
She added: “I think Strictly definitely opened my eyes to other things. I was on Corrie for 13 years and I started when I was nine years old. So for all that time, it was like that’s all I knew.” She continued: “It definitely opened up my eyes to being like, it’s not just the Cobbles.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday from 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
