Strictly Come Dancing has been a BBC household name for 21 years.
So you might be forgiven for thinking you know everything about the show.
As we head into the final week with Amber Davies, George Clarke and Karen Carney competing for the Glitterball Trophy, BBC Bitesize chats to 2021 Strictly Come Dancing star Rhys Stephenson, who reveals some Strictly secrets!
Hey, I'm Rhys Stephenson, and once upon a time, I made it all the way to the semi-finals of Strictly Come Dancing in 2021. I willshare with you five things about Strictly Come Dancing that you might not already know.
Number one, we all get to do a full dress run of the show before the live show. Early in the afternoon, we put all of our costumes on, but go down to see each other for the first time. We go, oh my gosh, you look amazing. Wow wow wow wow wow.
And we all go into the ballroom and we do the entire show as if it was live. Now, the reason for this is to give the backstage crew, so the camera operators, the sound people, the lighting people, a chance to see how this show is going to pan out. So when the show goes out, there can be as little mistakes as possible.
Number two, when you're watching your favourite go out there in the ballroom and they go, papow, papow, papow, papow. And you're like, wow, that routine was amazing. They've actually had a chance to practice that five times on that very ballroom floor. You do it three times earlier in the week, then you do it one more time on the Saturday, and then you do the dress run that I mentioned before. By the time you do the dance, it's actually your sixth time dancing it.
Number three specialist dances. There's a few dances in strictly that the pros don't choreograph. Those dances are the Charleston, Argentine Tango, the couple's choice, which can be any dance, of course, and the American smooth.
Number four costumes. Now, when you've been sitting there on movie week, you might have thought, hmm, that Batman costume looks a little strange. Well, that's not because the costume department aren't paying attention. Actually, they're doing their job, because there's a thing called copyright. And what copyright is, it allows the original creator of a product or a character to have full control over how they perceive that look. So that's why, with Strictly, the costume department do what they can to make it look enough like the character, so you know who it is. But to change enough of it so that the original creator doesn't get upset, and then you don't deal with any awkward legal battles that no one wants to get involved with.
Number five, tickets. Now we as people on the show, were able to get tickets for our friends and family to come see. Now, we all had the same number of tickets that we can give, but it was an absolute nightmare. My mum came to almost every show. I had to wrestle tickets off of her sometimes so that other people can come. It's the power of Strictly and I've never known anything like it.
So, those are the five things about Strictly Come Dancing that you might not already know. So take that and share with your friends to show them how much of a Strictly superfan you are.
1. Dress rehearsals
Ever wondered how many dress rehearsals the dancers have before the live show?
The answer: One!
Rhys explains that they only do one full dress rehearsal right before doing the live performance. Earlier in the day, everyone heads to the ballroom where they are all dressed up in their costumes. This is the first time everyone gets to see what everyone else is wearing.
The dancers perform the show from top to bottom, as if it was live. They only have time for a quick break, until they do the show all over again but this time in front of a live audience.
The reason for this is to give the backstage crew a clear idea on how the show is going to pan out. Live TV can be very unpredictable, so this rehearsal gives the crew a chance to make sure everything runs smoothly.
2. Hours of practice
Rhys reflects that when he was on the show the couples practiced their dance up to five times on the Strictly ballroom, before performing it for the sixth time in front of a live audience.
Rhys mentions that they would practice the dance three times earlier in the week, and this was a chance for camera operators to watch and evaluate the best way to plan out their shots.
Then you practice one more time on the Saturday, until you do the dress rehearsal.
3. Not all dances are choreographed by the pros
Rhys wants to be make this very clear, "the pros are incredible, they're so good at what they do."
The professional dancers who are partnered up with the celebrities on Strictly are experts in Latin and Ballroom dances, which means they choreograph most of the dances.
"But there’s a few dances that the professionals don’t choreograph as it doesn’t fall into the Latin or Ballroom category." This is when Strictly get outside experts to choreograph those dances instead.
Those dances are:
- Charleston
- Argentine tango
- Couple's choice
- American smooth
"It's one of the only times you are learning a dance with your partner with another person teaching you."
4. Copyright in costumes
Rhys says, "you might be wondering during movie week why certain characters we dress up as look a little strange. This is because of copyright."
Copyright is a legal protection for a creator's work to stop others from using it without your permission.
This means the costume department have to be careful when basing a costume on a certain character, because they don’t want to get in trouble with the original creator.
This involves striking a balance, where it looks enough like the character so you know who it is, but it's changed enough so the original creator cannot get upset.
So next time you see Batman with a lot of sequins, you know it's because the costume department are doing it on purpose to avoid any copyright complications.
5. Tickets
Rhys says "as someone on the show, we get tickets for our friends and family, but there's a limit."
He explains that every dancer has a limited number of tickets to give to their family and friends. This means everyone on the show has to deal with issues from family members and friends arguing to come see the show.
"My Mum came to almost every show. I had to wrestle a ticket off of her so that other people could come."
Did you know you can get tickets to the Strictly show as well?
How many of these fun facts did you know?
Hopefully even the Strictly superfans found out something new.
If you want more from Rhys, check him out in the latest CBeebies Christmas Panto: Cinderella on iPlayer.
This article was published in December 2025
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