The second live edition of the revamped Strictly Come Dancing is done, but one thing is still tricky to decipher – whether it is going to be a long-term success.
Much of what audiences love about the BBC dancing competition remains the same. The pros are still striving, the famous faces are giving it their all, and it remains a lovely way to spend time on an early autumn evening.
Movie Week Delivers
Pushing Movie Week forward was a great idea on paper. Even if the show's rhythm is not what it used to be just yet, it is easy not to think too much about critiques when you can get distracted by recognising outfits and songs from beloved films.
If you were a 1980s kid you had Risky Business, if you were watching with your kids you had Toy Story 5, and if you wanted a film that reminded you of your grandparents you had The Sound of Music. Outside of horror, which will be seen on Halloween week, the Movie Week routines ticked all the boxes.
Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood were all on great form. The latter, while known for being somewhat overly harsh in the opening weeks, held up his eight paddle for Delta Goodrem and Graeme Hall.
Presenter Concerns
The elephant in the room remains Strictly's new presenters Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe. Judging from fans online, it looks like replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman is even harder than anyone could have imagined.
It does not help that Claudia is currently killing it (no pun intended) on The Celebrity Traitors. Similarly to when Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United, it was always going to be a thankless task for whoever got the job.
To his credit, Johannes appeared a lot more comfortable this week. He deserves to be commended for trying to pick Melanie Walters' spirits when the Gavin & Stacey actress felt disheartened for making mistakes in a Waltz dedicated to her late mum.
Another moment where he led a chant as Manchester City legend Shaun Wright-Phillips returned to the Clauditorium demonstrated that Johannes will continue to improve as the weeks go on. As a former pro, he knows exactly what to say no matter what feeling a star is feeling.
But the issue remains downstairs, where Emma and Josh spend every moment together. Both have proven in the past that they work well on a team – Emma with her husband Matt Willis on Love Is Blind and Josh on The Last Leg with Adam Hills and Alex Brooker.
Format Questions
In an ideal world, it could be argued that Emma would be better suited on her own. The role Tess played for over two decades feels designed for someone who has hosted Big Brother and The Voice to evolve. When paired with another talent, Emma automatically has 50 per cent of her dialogue cut short. If it was not broken, why did the Strictly bosses try to fix the formula?
Josh is rightfully regarded as one of the most successful UK comedians of his generation. Outside of his work on The Last Leg, his live shows have seen his dry wit and sarcasm leave audiences in stitches. Since this is Strictly, dryness and sarcasm is not suitable. To try and cover this up, Josh is reading underwhelming jokes from an autocue that were met with dead silence on a few occasions.
What stuck out this week is that there were two occasions where physical comedy was used in an attempt to get a laugh. Sure, it is funny seeing a man being awkwardly lifted into the air while holding Mary Poppins' umbrella, but is this the best we can do?
Questions are now being asked if Strictly bosses need to send Josh upstairs and send Johannes down to Emma. This feels unfair to Johannes, as he would have to try to get used to another aspect of live TV when he is already a rookie in the medium.
The answer remains unclear. We are less than a month into Strictly 2026, and to dismiss it as a lost cause is foolish. By the end of the season, we could be hailing having a trio of presenters as the best thing to happen to the beloved series in decades.
Every week without fail, Strictly tells its audience to keep dancing. To Emma, Josh and Johannes, keep trying – we are not ready to write you off just yet.
