Week 2: What to expect from Movie Week

It’s been all change so far with Strictly this year, and one change I for one am definitely on board with is Movie Week coming up a week earlier. That means none of the contestants will be missing out on the glamour, and we have fifteen whole Hollywood-inspired routines to look forward to this weekend. Let’s get into it!

Jaime & Carlos

Cha Cha to ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ from Pretty Woman

The first dance we had announced for this week was Jaime and Carlos with the cha cha. Judging by the amount of camp and style from this pairing last week, it’s hard to imagine they won’t give Pretty Woman a similar level of attack. That being said, a Movie Week cha cha didn’t bode well for Carlos last year, earning him and reigning champion Karen their second-lowest score of the series.

Chris & Amy

Cha Cha to ‘I’m Always Here’ from Baywatch

We’ll be getting another cha cha from Chris and Amy – this one set to the Baywatch theme tune. These two were unfortunately near the bottom of the leaderboard last week and this choice of I’m Always Here doesn’t fill me with confidence. It’s got a strong beat and good timing for a cha cha, which should have made it easier for Chris to learn the steps (and the cha cha shares a similar time signature to last week’s dance, the tango), but I think the Baywatch theming may allow for quite a bit of campiness and what dear old Len would have called ‘fahffing abaht’. We’ll see whether our 2026 panel are any more lenient!

Cach & Maddie

Samba to ‘We Go Together’ from Grease

Possibly a more promising selection is Cach and Maddie’s samba to We Go Together from Grease. Musically it’s an interesting choice for a samba, but I think it could work. This pairing got a lot of flack last week for their loose, modern interpretation of the quickstep, but Cach’s professional background in Afrobeats dance is likely to work really well in the samba, which has its roots in various genres of African dance. I think Motsi in particular might really enjoy it if they choose to go in this direction – she’s been outspoken in the past about her appreciation of contestants celebrating culture through dance, and her sister, former professional Oti, praised Cach’s talent and energy on her podcast last week. Plus, Grease is a Strictly go-to, having given us classic routines like Faye and Giovanni’s awesome 2018 quickstep, which scored a whopping 36.

Shaun & Alexis

Salsa to ‘You Should Be Dancing’ from Saturday Night Fever

Rounding out the party Latin pack will be Shaun and Alexis, performing a Saturday Night Fever-themed salsa. As lovable as Shaun is, I can’t say I’m super excited for this one from a dance perspective! He struggled with cha cha last week, and the salsa requires similar points of technique – straight legs, sharp steps, and strong hip action. I’m not sure the judges are likely to like this one, so the public will have to rally around Shaun if we want to see him dancing again in Week 3.

Dani & Nikita

Foxtrot to ‘Beauty and the Beast’

There’s been rumours of an additional theme week on Strictly this year, and some have speculated Disney as a possible option. But I’m betting against this idea, given that the Disney’s coming early with Dani and Nikita due to perform a foxtrot to Beauty and the Beast. The foxtrot is one of Nikita’s lowest scoring dance styles so far with an average score of 29.32 over the three times he’s danced it, but surely he can break this pattern with Dani – they did well last week with a tricky dance, and both are clearly overjoyed to be partnered together again.

Lacey & Vito

Quickstep to ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ from Toy Story 5

Moving from Disney to Pixar, Lacey and Vito will be performing a quickstep to Taylor Swift’s I Knew It, I Knew You from the new Toy Story 5. It’s a bit of a relaxed song for a quickstep but ultimately a quickstep is a really great dance to have on the first elimination week – aside from the waltz, it’s the only traditional ballroom dance with an average score of over 30, and it should really suit this couple’s lively, likeable energy.

Melanie & Aljaž

Waltz to ‘Edelweiss’ from The Sound of Music

Graeme & Lauren

Waltz to ‘The Godfather Waltz’ from The Godfather

Speaking of waltzes, we’re being treated to a few this week! We’re getting a classic waltz from Melanie and Aljaž to Edelweiss from The Sound of Music, and from Graeme and Lauren to The Godfather Waltz. I think these are both great picks. Aljaž is a fantastic ballroom dancer and after a wobbly first week ending bottom of the leaderboard, it’ll probably be good for Melanie to get to dance in hold and follow his lead to a slow, classic song. Graeme’s experience in ballroom and Latin dance should serve him well with a traditional style like the waltz, with the darker music choice putting an alternative spin on the genre.

Lawrence & Jowita

Viennese Waltz to ‘Le Festin’ from Ratatouille

We’ll also be seeing a faster Viennese Waltz from Lawrence and Jowita. I’m personally not super convinced by the Ratatouille theme, but if anyone can pull it off it’s got to be Jowita – her Viennese Waltz in 2024 was a break-through dance for her partnership with Pete Wicks, seeing them gain a whole nine points on their previous week’s score.

Will & Dianne

Foxtrot to ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ from Risky Business

Now, it seems a little unkind to land Will and Dianne with a foxtrot after giving them a samba last week – arguably the hardest dance in the ballroom and Latin genres, respectively. They’ll be dancing to Old Time Rock & Roll from Risky Business, which is a great track. But given that it’s a theme week and that Dianne’s known for getting a bit playful with the ballroom dances rather than sticking to tradition, who knows what the judges are likely to think of it – especially since foxtrot has been one of her weaker genres in the past.

Delta & Kai

American Smooth to ‘I’ll Never Love Again’ from A Star Is Born

Delta and Kai’s American Smooth to A Star is Born’s I’ll Never Love Again is likely to also be foxtrot-based, but since it’s the American style, there’s a bit more leeway when it comes to choreography. Delta did very well last week and I think we can hope to expect a lot of glamour and romance from this number.

Tabby & Mark

American Smooth to ‘Rewrite the Stars’ from The Greatest Showman

Tabby and Mark will be dancing the American Smooth, too, to Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman. Personally I thought Tabby’s jive last week was perhaps a little undermarked – maybe the judges will decide she’s more of a ballroom girl.

John & Katya

Couples Choice to ‘An Irish Party in Third Class’ from Titanic

One would be forgiven for expecting a leaderboard dive from John and Katya this week – they topped the series’ first leaderboard with an elegant foxtrot, but Katya is somewhat known for taking a Week 2 leaderboard dive. However, they’ve been blessed with an early Couple’s Choice, which almost always pleases the crowd as well as the judges; in the 2025 series its average score was a whopping 34.6. They’ll be using the Irish dance number from Titanic, which is interesting as this genre usually relies on a lot of backing dancers, which we don’t tend to have on Strictly until Blackpool.

Sarah & Julian

Charleston to ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ from Mary Poppins

Another dance style which often scores high is the Charleston, which goes to Sarah and Julian this week. Sarah might benefit from having danced a quickstep last week, since a lot of the footwork is similar. However, performing to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious certainly sets the standard high – the last contestant to dance a Charleston to this song scored a 40! I’m not sure we can expect that from Sarah this week, but it should be good fun.

Bethany & Nancy

Paso Doble to ‘No Good Deed’ from Wicked: For Good

The dance I’m most excited for, though, has got to be Bethany and Nancy’s paso doble. We saw in their quickstep last week that this pairing are planning on experimenting with leading and following, which should be really interesting in a dance like the paso doble, which is structured visually around the tradition of the bull fight and usually has very clear, defined lead and follow roles. Nancy’s known for creativity in her paso doble choreography, with mixed results, but I think it’ll pay off here. They’re dancing to No Good Deed from Wicked: For Good.

So we’ve got lots to look forward – not least the first elimination of the series…