Strictly Come Dancing champions Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell are to reprise their Bafta TV award-winning waltz to You’ll Never Walk Alone.
The pair will perform on the launch episode of the BBC dancing show’s 2025 series on Saturday, which will also reveal which professional dancers the 15 celebrity contestants will be paired with.
The episode, which will see Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman return to host, will feature group dances starring the professional dancers and all 15 celebrities taking to the dancefloor for the first time along with the judges.
The show will also feature an exclusive performance from Jessie J, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, and a number of surprises.
Jessie J’s performance will come after she performed her first show since undergoing breast cancer surgery at the BBC’s Radio 2 In The Park in Chelmsford earlier this month.
McCausland and Buswell’s waltz won this year’s Bafta TV memorable moment award, voted for by the UK public, and last week Strictly Come Dancing also won the public-voted National Television Award for most popular talent show.
It comes after Strictly’s launch trailer was released earlier this month, showing its stars performing a routine in a sunny villa.
The show’s latest series comes after contestant Thomas Skinner apologised for picking up a reporter’s phone and walking out of a Strictly press event, after claiming he had seen messages “about a personal story from my past” on the mobile.
Former Apprentice star Skinner later admitted to cheating on his wife just weeks after their wedding in an interview with The Sun.
Skinner will be joined in the cast of celebrity contestants by Love Island winner Dani Dyer, ER actress Alex Kingston, model and actress Ellie Goldstein, former England footballer Karen Carney, Olympian and Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, and YouTuber and podcaster George Clarke.
The line-up of celebrity contestants is completed by Drag Race UK finalist La Voix, reality TV star Vicky Pattison, EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal, former footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope, Neighbours stalwart Stefan Dennis, broadcaster Ross King and former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw.
Judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke will return to score the couples as they compete to win the Glitterball Trophy.
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
