What time is it exactly tonight on Strictly Come Dancing? Saturday’s episode goes live on Saturday 26 September, and all fifteen couples dance for the first time in week one. For viewers, that means the first live scoring begins now, but the first chance to vote still waits until week two.
Emma said hosting her first episode felt like “It was like a fever dream!” and added, “It felt like the longest but fastest day of my life.” She also said, “The sheer scale of it – it’s humungous.”
Emma and the launch show
Emma called the launch show “so surreal” because she was inside Strictly Come Dancing for the first time after “over 20 years” of presenting elsewhere. She said, “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so once I got over the feeling of looking a bit silly, I absolutely loved it.”
The opening number brings The Strictly Professionals, the hosts and the judges together on an orchestral version of Joy by RAYE. Emma said, “I loved it.” That sets the tone for a live episode built around performance first, before the audience gets a say.
Four judges, no vote
Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke will award the first set of scores in week one. Those marks carry into week two, so every couple starts the season on the record before viewers get their first vote.
There is no public vote or elimination this week, which makes the first live show of the series a scoring night rather than a survival night. Emma said, “I’m feeling nervous for sure,” and that is the practical pressure point for the cast: one live performance, four judges, and no audience rescue yet.
Week two starts the vote
The first viewer vote arrives in week two, after the scores from Saturday’s episode have already been banked. That gives the opening live show a double function: it launches the ballroom run and fixes the early leaderboard before anyone outside the panel can intervene.
For anyone tuning in on Saturday 26 September, the important read is simple: all fifteen couples are making their ballroom debuts, the judges are setting the baseline, and the public does not get its turn until the following week. Emma’s reaction fits the scale of the night — live television, first scores, and a format that starts with judges before viewers join the process.
