Strictly is back! The celebrity and professional couples who will be REVEALED when the BBC show returns to celebrate its 20th anniversary after a year of scandal

It’s time to get your glitter and dancing shoes ready as Strictly officially returns for its 20th anniversary series.

After a scandal-plagued year amid the BBC’s misconduct investigation, the show returned in full swing on Saturday night as loyal viewers tuned in.

With 15 new celebrity couples set to hit the dance floor, the combinations will be revealed during the launch show when the series officially begins.

Pulling out all the stops for a huge, colourful and bright opening, Strictly fever was in the air as presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman welcomed the new series.

Tess exclaimed: “This year we celebrate 20 years on your television screens and if that opening is any indication, we’re in for quite a ride.”

So who are our celebrity couples?

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell

Strictly’s first blind contestant, Chris McCausland, is partnered with Dianne Buswell.

Australian dancer Dianne, 35, joined the BBC show in 2017 and has reached the final twice, in 2018 and 2023 with Joe Sugg and Bobby Brazier respectively.

Liverpool-born comedian Chris, 47, lost his sight in his early 20s due to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa and had never watched Strictly before.

She previously said: ‘I’ve never seen the show for obvious reasons. I can’t even watch it again to see what it’s about, how intricate the dances are.

“All we can do is figure it out as we go because I need to be there and do it to see what works and what doesn’t.”

Chris has described the training process as a “learning curve” for him and Dianne, and he hopes to make people laugh when he hits the Strictly dance floor.

Ever the comedian, upon being paired with Dianne, Chris joked that Dianne would soon be free to go on holiday as they won’t be competing for long.

He joked: “She’s absolutely delighted to have me because she (Dianne) really wants to have November off. You’ve got your holiday booked, haven’t you?”

Asked to tell her blind partner what they can expect during their Strictly experience, Dianne commented: “Firstly, I’m a huge fan of yours. I’m so excited and honoured to be your partner.

Secondly, I can’t answer that yet because I’m not sure how it’s going to work. But we’ll figure it out together.

Chris added: “Yeah, we’re going to figure it out together. We’re going to make mistakes and laugh about them. Then we’ll come back here and show you all the mistakes we’ve learned from!”

When asked if there was anything he was worried about, the comedian replied: “Everything!”

He joked: ‘You made it to the final last year, that won’t happen this year!’

Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas

Actor Jamie Borthwick will be paired with Michelle Tsiakkas.

Michelle, 29, joined the show in 2022, but this is the first year she’s had a celebrity partner and she’ll no doubt be eager to show everyone what she can do.

Jamie, 30, has appeared in BBC soap EastEnders as Jay Brown for almost 20 years and will look familiar to Strictly fans after he competed in the Christmas special last year.

He showed his skills at that time and was crowned champion alongside professional dancer Nancy Xu.

Jamie previously said: “I had so much fun doing the Strictly Christmas special last year, so when I was asked to take part in this series it was a no-brainer! Yes! This is a new challenge and it will be very different to learn a new dance every week and have the audience give their opinion.”

The soap star added during the launch show that her experience on the Christmas special “blew me away”, and Jamie joked that he didn’t know how she “managed to win” the show.

On his chances this time, he said: “This is a completely different game. I don’t think I can lose it for thirteen full weeks.”

However, Michelle was more upbeat about her time on Strictly, telling Claudia: “It’s a dream come true to finally be able to dance on the Strictly dance floor with a partner and what better partner to dance with than Jamie. I’m so happy!”

Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu

Shayne Ward is dating Nancy Xu.

Nancy, 33, joined Strictly in 2019 but had to wait two years before being matched with a celebrity partner.

Shayne, 39, shot to fame in 2005 when he won the second edition of The X Factor. He will join fellow X Factor contestant JB Gill, from JLS, on Strictly.

Although her first and second albums reached number one and number two respectively, her third album was met with lukewarm reception and disappointing sales.

Entering the world of acting, the star joined the cast of Coronation Street as Aidan Connor from 2015 to 2018, a decade after winning the singing competition.

Speaking about his time on the show, he said: “I’m excited to see all the sparkle and magic that is on Strictly in real life,” Shayne said.

“I’m no stranger to live television, but dancing Latin and ballroom in front of millions of people is a whole new level. I’m not making any promises about my dancing ability, but I’ll do my best!”

On dancing with Nancy, Shayne told Claudia, “I think Nancy is a phenomenal dancer and I feel so blessed that she’s with me on this journey.”

Meanwhile, Nancy couldn’t help but reference Shayne’s X Factor-winning song, telling the host of Shayne’s competitive spirit: “Well, I’ll give it a go. Since that’s your goal, that’s my goal!”

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones

Wynne is best known for his operatic skills, but will now be trading singing for the dance floor.

Katya has been part of the cast since 2016 and has choreographed some of the show’s most iconic dances, including Ed Balls’ famous Gangnam Style.

She also won the show with actor Joe McFadden in 2017 and made it to the quarter-finals last year with Nigel Harman before he had to withdraw due to injury.

Over his 25-year career, Wynne has had two number-one classical albums, has conducted most of the world’s major opera houses and has given more than 200 performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Wynne told Vernon Kay on BBC Radio 2: “I couldn’t believe it because it’s like a mystery game. You get a code name, you audition and you meet the celebrities and that’s my favourite thing.”

“Waltz, the classical ballroom dance, is what I’m looking forward to. I’ve done a lot of opera and I think it would suit me well.”

“What makes me nervous is stuff that involves jumping, I don’t want to do the jive, it makes me a bit nervous, but I’m taking inspiration from Bill Bailey. I’m going to go for it.”

On being paired with Katya, the star told Claudia: ‘I had no idea who I was going to be paired with.

“Obviously, I’m older so I didn’t know who would hire me, so we went to the place and in walked the Russian cockney!”

Claudia then asked Katya what her plans were for Wynne, and the dancer excitedly replied, “I don’t think any plan is brilliant. This man was born to win!”

The duo then revealed that their first dance will be Samba to Help Yourself by Tom Jones.