The 2026 series of BBC One's legendary Strictly Come Dancing is well underway. Having seen three weeks of dancing thus far, it's clear that this is yet another year full of talent, with some real standout performers already. Delta Goodrem continues to impress while Lacey Turner is proving herself to be a real contender for the Final right out of the gate. Week 3, however, made it clear that Tabby Stoecker might just be the dark horse of the competition.
This week, we're shifting gears back to a theme week as Icons Week returns. And, with that, we can expect to see routines inspired by some of the biggest names in showbiz, including Aretha Franklin, Ricky Martin, David Bowie, RAYE, and more. On that note, here's when you can expect it all to start, how long it lasts, and what dances you will see.
Strictly Week 4 start time (and how long the fourth live show is tonight)
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One tonight, Saturday October 17, at 6:15 p.m. BST while also being available to stream on BBC iPlayer at exactly the same time. This is the same start time that the show has had since the current series began and it's relatively early for Strictly, but it's actually a well-known fixture of the early stages of the competition. The show begins much earlier due to still having a vast amount of couples to get through.
The episode will finish at 8:30 p.m. BST, meaning that it will have a runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes. That is in the realm of what the previous episodes have been but a tad shorter. There are two reasons for that: We are now another couple down (after last week's Results Show saw Melanie and Aljaž eliminated) and Delta and Kai won't be dancing this weekend due to Delta sustaining an injury (and therefore having a one-week bye through to Week 5).
Strictly Week 4 dances and songs are a truly iconic match
It's Icons Week and we certainly have an iconic line-up of songs and dances to go along with it. As we saw teased in the Results Show on Sunday, there will be an eclectic collection of music icons from multiple generations, as we will see tracks from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Adele, Shania Twain, ABBA, and Bon Jovi.
It's going to be interesting to see if the costuming and styling actually matches the artists in question or not as we have seen both of those outcomes take place on Icons Week over the past two years. Regardless, let's dive into the bangers we'll be hearing on the dancefloor as well as the dances to go along with them:
- Bethany and Nancy – Cha Cha to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin
- Dani and Nikita – Rumba to "Hero" by Mariah Carey
- Jaime and Carlos – Paso Doble to “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie
- Lacey and Vito – American Smooth to "Hometown Glory" by Adele
- Dame Sarah Storey and Julian – Tango to “That Don’t Impress Me Much” by Shania Twain
- Tabby and Mark – Samba to "Where is My Husband!" by RAYE
- Cach and Maddie – Foxtrot to "Theme from New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra
- Graeme and Lauren – Salsa to Medley by ABBA
- John and Katya – Paso Doble to “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi
- Lawrence and Jowita – Salsa to "La Copa de la Vida" by Ricky Martin
- Shaun and Alexis – Couple’s Choice to Medley by James Brown
- Will and Dianne – Jive to "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John
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