When does Strictly Come Dancing 2021 start?

Strictly’s line-up has been announced (Picture: BBC/Metro.co.uk)

As summer slowly starts to wind down, the one silver lining for swapping sunshine and light nights is the return of autumn and winter TV, notably including Strictly.

Strictly Come Dancing has become a staple of cosy Saturday nights since it started in 2004, and this year will be no different.

The line-up for the upcoming 19th series has been released, with Olympian Adam Peaty, McFly’s Tom Fletcher, presenter AJ Odudu and actor Robert Webb among the famous names set to strut their stuff on the dancefloor.

But when will the new series of Strictly start?

When does Strictly start?

No official start date has been announced just yet, but if previous runs are anything to go by, we don’t have long to wait.

It’s likely the launch show will air on Saturday, September 11 with the first live shows starting a couple of weeks later, around Saturday, September 25.

Series 17 had its launch show on Saturday, September 7 2019 on BBC One, with the live shows starting on September 21. Similarly, series 16 had a launch show on Saturday, September 8, 2018, and the first live show on September 22.

The only exception to this timeframe was last year’s series, which aired later and had fewer episodes as a result of the ongoing Covid pandemic.

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