Strictly Come Dancing week eight – live

Key events 1m ago Who might miss out on a seaside minibreak? 4m ago Winstone in, Widdrington out 6m ago The ballroom battle for Blackpool is on Who might miss out on a seaside minibreak? The returning Jaime Winstone is bookies’ favourite for the axe this weekend, followed by Graeme “The Dogfather” Hall .

At the opposite end of the betting, Dani Dyer has shot up to third favourite for the glitterball trophy, behind Lacey Turner and Tabby Stoecker . In fact, with Delta Goodrem fourth in the odds, bookmakers are predicting an all-female final. Can a male celebrity defy those odds, do we reckon?

It’s 25 minutes until we get our first choreographic clues... Winstone in, Widdrington out Good news from the sparkly sickbay is that on Tuesday, Jaime Winstone – who missed last week’s show with a torn abdominal muscle – was given the go-ahead from doctors to dance again. She’s been taking it easy in training as she continues her recovery but will return tonight alongside pro partner Carlos Gu .

The bad news is that pro dancer Kai Widdrington misses this week’s show due to illness. Get well soon, Kai. Fellow pro Aljaž Škorjanec will step in to dance with Delta Goodrem instead.

How will a last-minute partner swap affect their Argentine tango? We’ll see in less than half an hour ... The ballroom battle for Blackpool is on The Tower Ballroom beckons – but one couple won’t be catching the glittery bus north.

Good evening and welcome to the eighth live weekend of Strictly Come Dancing 2026 . I’m Michael, your cyber-dance partner for tonight’s live show. I’d love you to watch along with me as our nine surviving pro-celebrity pairings bid to make it to next week’s annual Blackpool spectacular Last week, Dani Dyer soared to the top of the leaderboard for the first time after her showstopping American smooth.

Cach Mercer faced Bethany Antonia in the dreaded dance-off and after a split decision, head judge Shirley Ballas got the casting vote and opted to save Cach. Cue controversy and bittersweet farewells to Bethany and her partner Nancy Xu . Now we’re gearing up for Blackpool and dancing for a place in the seaside special.

Our remaining pairs have successfully passed the contest’s midway mark and have the fabled home of ballroom squarely in their sights. Jaime Winstone is back from injury but there is another absence through illness. More on that in a moment.

As always, tonight’s scores will be combined with the public vote and the bottom two will dance for survival on Sunday night. Will we get a pre-seaside surprise? It’s showtime at 6.25pm on BBC One .

I’ll be liveblogging from 5.55pm , providing build-up, rolling coverage, analysis, reaction and ballroom backchat. So kiss me quick, squeeze me slow and I’ll see you on the sofa. As per usual, I’d love to hear from you too.

You can tweet me @michaelhogan, contact me on Bluesky or Threads @michaelhogan100, email me michael.hogan.freelance@guardian.co.uk and the comments section below is open for hoofing hubbub. I’ll swing and sway down there from time to time to see what you’re all saying and report on your reactions.

It’s week eight and the hoofing’s going to be great. Nearly time to staaaart seaside qualifying!