We've reached the halfway point of Strictly Come Dancing's 2025 series. The beloved BBC One show has been thrilling us for yet another year, making those winter months feel so very cosy, full of glitter and glam as an abundance of new couples have entertained us. And that's what Strictly is all about.
The show celebrated the spooky season last week with its annual Halloween Special and it was quite the history-making episode. Lewis Cope and Katya Jones topped the Leaderboard with their Couples Choice, scoring the first 40 of the series - making them the joint-earliest couple to ever receive a perfect score (alongside Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice's spooky Tango in 2021).
It also sadly saw the departure of Ellie and Vito in what was undoubtedly an emotional Dance-Off, once again reminding viewers of how hard it is for any couple to leave at this stage in the competition - especially as we approach Blackpool. Speaking of which, onto Week 7.
Strictly Week 7 start time (and how long the episode is)
Strictly Come Dancing Week 7 airs on BBC One on Saturday, November 8 2025, at 6:25 pm GMT. The nine remaining couples will take to the dancefloor with a host of new routines (which feature some absolute banger songs) destined to entertain audiences across the nation. Although it's a slightly earlier start time than last week's spooky special, it's still more indicative of the half 6ish timeslot that the show can settle into now thatthe number of couples still competing is down to single digits.
The show will wrap up around 8:00 pm GMT, meaning that the Week 7 episode will have a run time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, making it the shortest episode of the series thus far. Of course, it's live entertainment, so don't be surprised if it runs over a few moments (or even comes in under that), but you might not notice either way as you'll probably be busy voting for your favourite couples!
This week's songs and dances promise some major moments
The judges have been getting more nitpicky as the series has gone on, and that's down to the fact that Strictly 2025 has reached its halfway point. These are couples that are going to continue to entertain us throughout the business end of the competition, so it's clear that we're going to be in for a very high standard of dancing. The judges are just ensuring that the quality is as high as it can be.
It certainly looks like we're going to get some high quality dancing this week. All of the songs that the couples will be dancing to - along with the dances that they will be doing - were confirmed earlier this week and we could be in for something special. Check them all out here:
- Amber and Nikita - Salsa to "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real" by Sylvester
- Alex and Johannes - Paso Doble to "Amparito Roca" by Jamie Texidor
- Balvinder and Julian - Couple's Choice to "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran
- George and Alexis – Viennese Waltz to "Somebody To Love" by Queen
- Harry and Karen – Samba to "Samba" by Gloria Estefan
- Karen and Carlos – Charleston to "Upside Down" by Diana Ross
- La Voix and Aljaž - Foxtrot to "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" by Cass Elliot
- Lewis and Katya – Cha Cha to "I Like It Like That" by Pete Rodriguez
- Vicky and Kai – Tango to "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift
Vicky and Kai's strength has been ballroom dancing and they have a potentially epic one ahead with their Taylor Swift-scored Tango; the same can be said about George and Alexis, who have a great song to Viennese Waltz to in their Queen classic. Amber and Nikita have delivered memorable Latin routines in the past, and they could well do so again with their Salsa. Meanwhile, Balvinder and Julian look like they could have a real moment on their hands with the Couples Choice to "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran - here's hoping that it's their chance to shine. They deserve it.
As Strictly prepares to take us into the competitive second act of the competition, we can't wait to see the dances, comments, and scores that Week 7 has in store for us all. It's going to be a good one!