It's hard to believe that there are just three more Strictly Saturdays of 2025! BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing has been thrilling British audiences for the past 11 weeks with its 23rd series, which has turned out to be a bit of a rollercoaster. Yes, there's been a lot happening, with multiple couples having to pull out due to injury, and some potential finalists getting eliminated surprisingly early. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all, though, was the revelation that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman would be leaving the show as its hosts after this series.
With all of that mind, you can see why audiences were so eager to hold onto the series as it is, enjoying each and every moment, dance, and score that is delivered on a weekly basis. And somehow, we've reached the Quarter Finals - which means Musicals Week is upon us!
If you're ready to dust off the vocal chords for a series of musical theatre singalongs, then here's how you can tune into this Saturday's Quarter Finals!
Strictly Week 11 start time (and how long the episode is)
Strictly Come Dancing Week 11 will air on BBC One on Saturday, December 6, at 6:50 p.m. GMT. That's considerably later than any episode of the series thus far and it reflects how little couples remain in the competition (five!). If you've watched the series in the years beforehand, you probably knew to anticipate that, as Musicals Week / the Quarter Finals is always one of the quickest watches of the whole series - and it usually starts later than the previous installments as a result of that!
Tonight's episode will also have a much shorter runtime than previous episodes. It will wrap up at the usual 8:20 p.m. GMT time, but its later start means that it will be just 1 hour and 30 minutes long. Again, Musicals Week is always the shortest episode of the series due to the fact that we have just five competitive performances (although in some years there are six). However, this year's installment will have a special challenge for the couples as well as their normal routines, as each one will perform in a special Relay Dance in the midst of a group dance, which is set to open the show. So, in a way, we will have six performances after all.
Strictly Week 11's songs and dances are inspired by The Greatest Showman, Guys and Dolls, and more
Musicals Week is, of course, the last theme week on Strictly, so you can bet the show will be going all out to make it a memorable one. It's also one of the fan-favorites, as the idea of musicals and performances go really well with the concept of Strictly (whereas some of the previous theme weeks haven't), so fans are excited to see the larger-than-life performances, and how the extra dancers will fit into the routines.
Speaking of the routines, we have some absolute bangers in terms of songs. We're talking classic tracks from Guys and Dolls, The Phantom of the Opera, The Greatest Showman, West Side Story, and Sweet Charity. To go along with those we have Charlestons, Argentine Tangos, Viennese Waltzes, Salsas, and Sambas to look forward to.
Speaking of which, here are the songs for each of the competitive dances in the Quarter Final:
- Amber and Nikita - Charleston to "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" from Guys and Dolls
- Balvinder and Julian - Viennese Waltz to "Never Enough" from The Greatest Showman
- George and Alexis – Argentine Tango to "The Point of No Return" from The Phantom of the Opera
- Lewis and Katya – Salsa to "Dance at the Gym" from West Side Story
- Karen and Carlos - Samba to "The Rhythm of Life" from Sweet Charity
Of course, they won't be the only dances that our couples are doing this week. Yes, we alluded to a special Musicals dance relay that will involve a group performance to open the show. However, within that performance will be brief dances from each of the couples, choreographed to specific songs.
Yep, these ones are musical numbers too, and with that, here's what you can expect to see - or, well, hear!
- Amber and Nikita - "Trip A Little Light Fantastic" from Mary Poppins Returns
- Balvinder and Julian - "With A Little Bit Of Luck" from My Fair Lady
- George and Alexis - "Consider Yourself" from Oliver!
- Karen and Carlos - "Flash Bang Wallop" from Half A Sixpence
- Lewis and Katya - "Me Ol' Bamboo" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
The routine will be five minutes long, features eight additional dancers, and is choreographed by Matt Flint. Needless to say it all sounds very, very exciting - and it will surely make an unforgettable opening to Musicals Week.
Of course, Musicals Week is also the Quarter Finals, which means four of the five couples will make it through to next week's Semi-Finals. With these dances ahead of us, it's going to be a legendary and powerful week on that Strictly dancefloor.