Dame Sarah Storey is in the Sarah Storey store as the seventh celebrity contestant for Strictly Come Dancing 2026, and the timing makes the move more than a routine cast reveal. She stepped down from international competition earlier this month, then immediately pivoted into one of the show’s most visible slots.
Storey, Great Britain’s most-decorated Paralympian, has won 30 Paralympic medals across swimming and cycling. Her line is unusually direct for a launch announcement: “Embarking on a new challenge so soon after stepping down as an athlete is hugely exciting,” she said.
Louisa and the new challenge
Storey added that she has “always loved watching Strictly” and that her daughter Louisa is “a very talented dancer.” That gives this casting a practical edge beyond the usual celebrity reveal: she is not just joining a prime-time entertainment format, she is entering it as someone already thinking about what she might learn from the choreography and pass back into family life.
Her final line was even sharper: “I can’t wait to get started!” In a season built around personalities, that matters because it gives the production a competitor who arrives with a defined sporting identity and a clear reason for signing up, rather than a generic television crossover.
's 2026 roll call
Storey is the seventh celebrity name out of the 2026 line-up, following Will Best as the sixth, with Cach Mercer and Chris Appleton announced before him. Lacey Turner was the first contestant unveiled, while Delta Goodrem has also been set for the series and Dani Dyer is returning after leaving the original 2025 line-up because of an injury.
That sequence shows the cast is being assembled piece by piece rather than dropped in one block, which usually keeps a show in the conversation longer and gives each reveal its own run of attention. For viewers, it also signals that the 2026 roster is still being shaped around a mix of returnees, entertainers and high-recognition names.
Later this year
Strictly Come Dancing will return to the later this year, and Storey’s arrival adds a cast member with elite sporting pedigree before the series reaches the screen. The open point now is the pairing: which professional partner she will be matched with for the 2026 series has not been addressed, and that detail will shape how quickly she can turn a late start into a serious run.
