[10] Hopkins then called in Karen Smith, who had just produced Comic Relief Does Fame Academy for BBC One and The Games for Channel 4, to help lead the development of the show and launch the series.

[17] For most of the second series, Natasha Kaplinsky stood in temporarily for Daly while she took maternity leave; Claudia Winkleman hosted the results show and editions that Forsyth had missed between 2010 and 2013.

The judging panel initially consisted of Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Craig Revel Horwood.

Alesha Dixon took Phillips' place from series 7 to 9, after which she left the programme to judge Britain's Got Talent which led retired ballerina Dame Darcey Bussell to replace her.

Up until 2020, Tonioli commuted weekly between Hollywood and London to judge both the American and British versions of the show simultaneously - however, due the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, he could no longer juggle both the UK and US shows - he was not replaced for the 2020 series; but pro dancer Anton Du Beke took his place from the 2021 series, and has now replaced Tonioli full-time on the panel.

The singers on the show are Tommy Blaize, Hayley Sanderson, Lance Ellington, Andrea Grant and, formerly, the well-known British dance music vocalist Tara McDonald.

Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag have danced as a professional couple since 1997,[35] while Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace are former Argentine tango world champions as a duo and have done multiple tours together.

[39][40][41] Other current and former professional partnerships featured on the show include Dallerup and Ian Waite, Paul Killick and Hanna Karttunen,[42] Andrew Cuerden and Hanna Haarala, Brian Fortuna and Kristina Rihanoff, Rihanoff and Robin Windsor,[43] Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis,[44][45] siblings Kevin and Joanne Clifton,[46] AJ Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt, and Gorka Márquez and Karen Hauer.

A new spin-off show — Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, presented by Claudia Winkleman — was created and has continued to air alongside each subsequent series on BBC Two.

[67] Series 13 was the last to feature Tristan MacManus, Kristina Rihanoff, Ola Jordan, Gleb Savchenko and Aliona Vilani as professional dancers.

The leaving professionals were replaced by Katya Jones, Burn the Floor dancer Gorka Márquez and former Dancing with the Stars US troupe member Oksana Platero.

Chloe Hewitt left the series and three new professional dancers — Graziano Di Prima, Johannes Radebe and Luba Mushtuk — were announced to be joining the show.

On 10 June 2021, it was announced that Janette Manrara would leave the show as a professional dancer and replace Zoe Ball as a new It Takes Two presenter.

On 24 June, Anton Du Beke was announced as having joined the judging panel for this series instead of returning as a professional dancer, replacing Bruno Tonioli, who missed a second year due to continuing travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[91] On 13 December 2008, Strictly Come Dancing became the subject of press attention and viewer complaints about an error in the voting system during the semi-final of series six.

On the same day, the BBC posted a statement on its website, which clarified that an independent adjudicator had been consulted to reach a solution that would offer "fairness to the viewers who voted and the contestants themselves".

[102] In 2009, during the seventh series, professional dancer Anton Du Beke issued a public apology[103] for his use of a racial slur during a conversation with his dance partner Laila Rouass.

"[105] Over 600 complaints were received by the BBC, including those about comments Bruce Forsyth, then host of Strictly Come Dancing, made about the controversy on a Talksport radio programme, in which he suggested that Britain "used to have a sense of humour" about such incidents, and that Du Beke's apology should be accepted.

However, there is a major difference between this and racist comments which are malicious in intent and whilst I accept that we live in a world of extraordinary political correctness, we should keep things in perspective.

[107] The press has reported on the issue on numerous occasions when gay celebrities have appeared on the show, including Will Young,[109] Susan Calman,[110] Robert Rinder,[111] Richard Coles[112] and Ranj Singh.

[113] Strictly Come Dancing judges Shirley Ballas[113] and Craig Revel Horwood[114] have both expressed their support for introducing same-sex couples.

[115][116][117] On 3 November 2019, Johannes Radebe and fellow professional Graziano Di Prima performed together to Emeli Sandé's "Shine" on the Sunday results episode, the show's first individual same-sex dance.

In 2021, it was announced that John Whaite would feature in the first all-male same-sex couple with Johannes Radebe for the nineteenth series, with the two of them eventually finishing as the runners-up.

[123] In March 2024, The Sun said that Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh had met to discuss their negative experiences with Pernice on the show.

Legal firm Carter Ruck told BBC News there were "numerous serious complaints" about his behaviour while filming Strictly Come Dancing.

[125] In July 2024, the BBC's probe into misconduct brought further claims made by production staff, who observed Graziano Di Prima's behaviour towards dance partner Zara McDermott during the 2023 series.

A source speaking to The Sun claimed that footage showing Di Prima's alleged treatment of McDermott "reduced those who have seen it to tears".

[127] The BBC has announced that Di Prima has left the show, and in the future a member of the production team would be present at all times during rehearsals.

[129] An example of Strictly Come Dancing's popularity is that, after episodes, electricity use in the United Kingdom rises significantly as viewers who have waited for the show to end begin boiling water for tea, a phenomenon known as TV pick-up.

It was released on the App Store and Google Play in early 2016 and is regularly updated with new dance features alongside new seasons of the show.