Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly Come Dancing (informally known as Strictly) is a British television dance contest in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored out of 10 by a panel of judges. The format has been exported to over 40 other countries, and has also inspired a modern dance-themed spin-off Strictly Dance Fever. The show is currently presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. The show has run on BBC One since 15 May 2004, primarily on Saturday evenings with a following Sunday night results show (with certain exceptions) and with its high viewing figures Strictly Come Dancing has become a significant programme in British popular culture. The sixteenth series ended on 15 December 2018. A further eleven stand-alone Christmas specials have also been produced, in consecutive years from 2004 onwards. Nine charity specials have also been produced since 2008. Since the fourth series, the show has also been aired in high definition on BBC HD, and BBC One HD from series 8. On 7 November 2013, it was announced that Sir Bruce Forsyth would be retiring from presenting the main series. While intending to return as host for each Children in Need and Christmas special, he only did so for the Christmas special in 2014 and the Children in Need special in 2015. He sent a video message for the 2015 Christmas special as he was unable to appear due to illness. Forsyth died on 18 August 2017.