Strictly 2026- Remembering Sparklefizz.

"Strictly Come Dancing" not "Strictly" was created as a light-hearted entertainment vehicle for the multi-talents of the late Sir Bruce Forsyth and should have ended when he died.

Now it's dragged on and on and only has any kind of value in the miles of publicity it generates whenever yet another scandal (doubtless manufactured by the PR team) crops up.

Think of the money that could be saved by putting it out of it's misery. Mind you, several dreary 'celebrities' would soon drop off the publicity radar if this show was no longer around to keep their careers afloat.

Well that’s this thread put in its place !

There’s always one isn’t there 🙄 and on
such a lovely tribute thread for Sparklefizz 🥂

Tess and Claudia were always going to be a hard act to follow, and I don’t think the new combination is right sadly.
Hopefully when the dancing gets started they will fall into their own roles.
Time will tell.

I hope they use this revamp to alter how things are done, not so much chatting and padding out, basically.

Next week’s is on for a long time though, about 2.5 hours I think, so rather drawn out.

Does anyone know if they still intend to have a ‘Results’ show on Sundays?

I enjoyed the (long) launch show more than I expected to.
Emma is a very experienced, natural presenter but I would have liked her to have been doing the job with Rylan.
It is an Entertainment show and a Dancing competition - about 50/50 I would guess.
As always it is a mix of celebs in this year’s “cast” .

Too much screaming, all the women appeared identical and the men obsessed with tans.
Johannes a natural, very interested and reassuring; Josh Widdicombe silly, and Emma Willis totally synthetic. I would infinitely have preferred Rylan to her.

That said, the first dance was better than expected and I am sure once the proper dancing gets underway I will continue to watch it because that is what the programme is about.
As it was I switched off halfway because I was bored.

(Remembering a few years ago when I said after the first programme, 'two hours of silliness and I enjoyed every minute.')

Margs
You have to do your homework when making claims on GN.
Ie, think of the money that could be saved
Strickly is licensed to over 60 countries^ This generates £2.2 Billion.

If last night was an example of Z list celebrities, who will be dredged up for next year or am I being too cruel and cynical?

Thanks for telling me who Dame Sarah Storey is and yes she will be very competitive and used to working long hours.

Next week should be better once we see some movement on the dance floor.

I think it's going to be difficult for the lesser known "celebs" (there seems to be a lot this year) who have been paired up with new pros. Virtually no fan base to depend on.

I spotted these lookalikes in the new pros - Ola Jordan, Giovanni, A.J. Pritchard.

I didn't particularly like the three new hosts but I loved Claud and she's big boots to step into. Hopefully they'll settle in as the show progresses.

RIP to Sparklefizz who I missed out on knowing. I too found the show too drawn out although the way the partners were revealed was a little interesting but again it just padded out the show. A definite no to 3 presenters which just doesn't seem to work as demonstrated with the cringe worthy serial 'lets dance' hug at the end. The wardrobe staff made a big booboo with Emma's dress colour.

I disagree about Emma's dress. It fitted well, it was tasteful and understated. She is a presenter and did not need to look bright standout and sparkly like the dancers.

I agree about the women all looking the same. As I don’t know most of them I’m going to have to make notes. 😂

rafichagran

I disagree about Emma's dress. It fitted well, it was tasteful and understated. She is a presenter and did not need to look bright standout and sparkly like the dancers.

But the colour made her just ‘blend in’.

As someone else said she looked ‘washed out’.

I’m sure it was a beautiful dress, in probably a soft, peachy colour, but to me (and others) it didn’t seem to work.

But I am no Vivienne Westwood!

Just posted on the other Strictly thread by accident 🤦‍♀️

I have just finished watching last nights programme.

I love Emma Willis and her dress (she was teased by her co hosts that she was the palest of them all)

JoJo is a fabulous dancer with a very kindly personality however, I think if he is doing the couch interviews upstairs he will benefit from Josh’s experience.

Loved the pairings of Aljaz and Melanie Walter’s along with Dani Dyer and Nikita also Delta Goodrem and Kai.

I am looking forward to this year 🕺🏼💃🪩

I think last night's show had lost a bit of sparkle Emma did a great job presenting however Jojo and Josh should stick with their day jobs dancing and acting

I look forward to the coming weeks, getting to know the celebrities & the 5? new professional dancers.
I struggled to "see" Kai, other than his familiar wide smile, was it his hair or something else? - he looked so different to me!
Anyway, I always love the clothes, music &, of course, the dancing!!
I found myself thinking of Sparklefizz, wondering what she would have been commenting, (often the same as 'us others').

I never really enjoy the first show but I liked the way the celebs were partnered up this time. I’m hoping the whole dynamic of the show will change next week when it gets underway. As for the presenters, Emma is brilliant and could have presented the whole show by herself. But Johannes is lovely and has the dancing knowledge so he has a role. Not sure how Josh fits in yet, but he does have a quick gentle wit.

Why hasn't poor Neil got a partner again. He came across as such a lovely man on Escape to the Country.

TillyTrotter

I enjoyed the (long) launch show more than I expected to.
Emma is a very experienced, natural presenter but I would have liked her to have been doing the job with Rylan.
It is an Entertainment show and a Dancing competition - about 50/50 I would guess.
As always it is a mix of celebs in this year’s “cast” .

👏👏👏👏👏 🙂🙂

I’ll be watching, is entertaining and a bit of much needed entertainment.

I don’t think it’s compulsory 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

🥂🍾 Sparklefizz

MawsRosie

Well that’s this thread put in its place !

😂😂😂

harrysgran

I think last night's show had lost a bit of sparkle Emma did a great job presenting however Jojo and Josh should stick with their day jobs dancing and acting

Josh is actually far more stand-up and presenter, than actor.

I've just seen this summary of the celebrity line up and it made me chuckle -

"A hairdresser, a dog trainer and the daughter of an actor. Pardon me if I don't get over excited".

DH and I always a bit disappointed when we see any programme featuring “so called celebrities” as we naughtily call them.

We’ve literally never heard of half the celebs on any celebrity show.

It seems like it’s;

Son or daughter of an actor
Son or daughter of a celebrity Chef
Son or daughter of an ex-footballer
A couple of YouTubers
An Influencer
A very old someone we all used to know
A very young but rather beautiful woman
A very young amazingly handsome man

If you’re really lucky, someone you might have heard of 😂😂😂

I rarely watch the introductions show but look forward to the dancing when it begins. 💃 👯‍♀️ 🕺
Cheers to the memory of Sparklefizz, ✨️
Excellent point, petra.