BBC Strictly Come Dancing in shake-up as show announces huge change

Strictly Come Dancing has announced a huge change to the programme with the return of the much-loved Dance-A-Thon.

The announcement was made on the spin-off show, It Takes Two, on Wednesday evening. The remaining Strictly pairs will take to the dance floor together in an attempt to wow the judges with their best Samba moves in this series' Samba-Thon on Saturday 23 November.

The Dance-A-Thon will involve the couples returning to the dance floor for a group Samba after their main performance. The judges will then gradually eliminate pairs until a winner is declared.

However, there's a catch - the couples will need to quickly win over the judges as their final position in the Samba-Thon will impact their overall score for the evening.

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The first couple to be eliminated from the Samba-Thon will receive one point, with the second couple earning two points, and so on. The victorious pair will gain an impressive seven points, which will be added to their leaderboard position determined by the judges' scores from their main dance that night.

With each couple vying for additional points, the Samba-Thon could significantly influence who remains and who exits the competition. The participants in the Samba-Thon will be announced next week during the Sunday results show from the Blackpool Tower. The Samba-Thon will be featured in the show on Saturday 23 November.

The Dance-A-Thon challenge, which first graced our screens back in 2009 during the show's seventh series, has made several comebacks throughout Strictly Come Dancing's history. The show's producers have now confirmed that its return for the landmark 20th anniversary series is a tribute to the world of professional Ballroom and Latin dancing.

This news comes as Strictly's professional dancer Amy Dowden shared that her heart is "breaking" due to having to withdraw from the competition because of a foot injury.

The Welsh dancer, 34, returned to competing in the BBC show for its 20th anniversary series after missing out last year due to undergoing cancer treatment.

Her celebrity partner, JLS star JB Gill, will now be paired with fellow pro Lauren Oakley, who stepped in to replace Amy on last weekend’s show.

Strictly Come Dancing continues this Saturday night at 6:35pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Meanwhile, It Takes Two continues on weeknights at 6:30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.