About

On 9th September 2017 Strictly Come Dancing is back and will see fifteen celebrities and their professional dance partners battle it out to secure the coveted title of Strictly Come Dancing Champions 2017.

Each week, our couples will perform a Ballroom or a Latin American dance and will be judged and scored - as always - by our judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli and Darcey Bussell.

In week one on the 23rd September 2017 all 15 celebrities and their professional dance partners will take to the floor.

The judges will score and provide feedback. However there will be no public vote this first week and, hence, no couple will be eliminated at this stage. The judges' scores will get carried over to the following week’s show.

The scores from the judges on the first show and the public vote will be combined 50-50 and announced the following Sunday 1st October. The two couples with the lowest number of points from a combination of judges’ scores and the results of the vote will go into a dance-off, after which the judges will decide which couple will stay in the competition. In the case of a tie in the judges’ decision, Head Judge Shirley Ballas shall have the casting vote.

From Saturday 30th September, all couples will dance and the judges will score each couple after they have danced. The phone lines will open towards the end of the show on Saturday after all couples have danced and the viewers will get the opportunity to vote for their favourite couple/s. The phone lines will close later that night. Viewers will be informed of closing times on a week by week basis as this depends on the scheduling of the programme. Viewers will be able to vote by telephone or online Voting online will require to register/log in with BBC ID bbc.com/register The results of the telephone vote and the online vote will be aggregated prior to any announcements.

On the 9th December five couples will perform two routines and the judges will score each couple after each dance. The phone lines will open towards the end of the show on Saturday after all couples have danced and the viewers will get the opportunity to vote for their favourite couple/s. The phone lines will close later that night. Viewers will be informed of closing times on a week by week basis as this depends on the scheduling of the programme. Viewers will be able to vote by telephone or online Voting online will require to register/log in with BBC ID bbc.com/register. The results of the telephone vote and the online vote will be aggregated prior to any announcements.

On the 16th December all four couples will perform three routines. A Judges' Pick, a Showdance and their own favourite dance. But this time the judges' scores will be for reference only. The ultimate winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2017 will be decided purely by the public vote.

The phone lines will open once every couple has performed their first routine and the viewers will get the opportunity to vote for their favourite couple/s. The phone lines will close later that night. Viewers will be informed of closing times on a week by week basis as this depends on the scheduling of the programme. Viewers will be able to vote by telephone or online. Online voting will require to register/log in with BBC ID bbc.com/register. The results of the telephone vote and the online vote will be aggregated prior to any announcements.

The Strictly Come Dancing scoring system combines judges and viewers votes. No couple is guaranteed to be safe on judges' votes alone however, and the viewers' votes can always influence the outcome. This means each week any couple can face or be saved from the dance off with the public vote. In the event of a tie, the viewers' votes will take precedence over the judges' scoring.

After all couples have performed, the judges' scores will be added together and the couples will be ranked according to the scores received. The couple ranked the highest will be awarded a number of points equal to the number of couples competing that evening. So, for example, if seven couples are competing, the points awarded to the highest ranked couple (based on the judges total score) will be 7, the couple with the second highest score from the judges will receive 6 points and so on in the same downward sequential order.

In the event of a tie, where two or more couples obtain the same number of points, the couple below those in the tie will be awarded one point below the points awarded to each of the tied couples. So, for example, if two couples obtain the same rank and obtain 7 points each, the couple immediately below them will be awarded 6 points. The scoring of all other couples underneath will follow in the same descending order.

After the ranking and points based on the judges' scores have been announced, the viewers will be given the opportunity to vote by calling the numbers announced for each couple or online by accessing http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictly

After the telephone and online voting has closed, the viewers' votes will be collated and independently verified. The couples will be ranked based on the total number of viewers' votes received. The couple with the highest number of viewers' votes will be awarded a number of points equal to the number of couples competing that evening. So, for example, if seven couples are competing, the points awarded to the highest ranked couple (based on the viewers' total score) will be 7, the couple with the second highest score from the viewers will receive 6 points and so on in the same downward sequential order.

In the event of a tie, where two or more couples obtain the same number of points, the couple below those in the tie will be awarded one point below the points awarded to each of the couples in the tie. So, for example, if two couples obtain the same rank and obtain 7 points each, the couple immediately below them will be awarded 6 points. The scoring of all other couples underneath will follow in the same descending order.

Once the judges' scores and viewer’s votes have been combined, if there is a tie between any couples, then the couple in the tie with the highest number of viewer votes will be deemed to be ahead on the leaderboard.

In the unlikely event that there is a tie in the judges' scores and the public phone and online vote for the two or more couples at the bottom of the leaderboard the judges will confer and decide which of the couples to save and which to put through to the dance-off. Whilst there are 4 regular judges, guest judges may take part in certain shows. When there are four judges, if there is a tie in the judges' vote, head judge Shirley Ballas will have the casting vote.

The format may be altered by Production throughout the series to allow for other routines or group dances.