42 h. ago Strictly's Amy Dowden's 'gorgeous' green holiday dress as she celebrates big news

Professional dancer Amy Dowden has announced that she'll be returning to the dance floor for the 2025 season of Strictly Come Dancing, and she's dressed to impress to mark the occasion

Culture

68 h. ago Amy Dowden looks 'gorgeous' in high street green dress as she celebrates Strictly return

As she confirms her return to Strictly Come Dancing for the 2025 series, Amy Dowden has been inundated with messages of support from her fans - and they're all saying the same thing

Culture

3 d. ago Strictly's Amy Dowden 'grateful' as she returns to show after injury heartache

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has revealed that she is returning to the 2025 series of the BBC dance competition after being forced to drop out last year

Events

3 d. ago Amy Dowden says 'countdown begins' as she issues update about Strictly Come Dancing 2025

The Welsh dancer will be joined by close friend and professional dancer Carlos Gu in the upcoming BBC series

Politics

3 d. ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing professional dancers confirmed for 2025 series

The UK TV phenomenon is returning for its twenty-third series on BBC

Culture

3 d. ago Strictly Come Dancing reveals professionals lineup for 2025 – with one surprise return

Much loved BBC dance competition will return to screens this Autumn

Politics

3 d. ago Amy Dowden’s Strictly Come Dancing 2025 return confirmed after injury last year

Two new professional dancers will also join the show and will be announced later in the year.

Events

3 d. ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing confirms 2025 professional dancer line

The Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer line-up for 2025 has finally been confirmed, with 19 pros set to return to the BBC show for the upcoming series

Politics

3 d. ago Amy Dowden's Strictly Come Dancing future confirmed as 2025 professional line

The BBC revealed that the Caerphilly dancer would be returning to the ballroom, alongside other fan favourites such as Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Katya Jones and Karen Hauer

Politics

8 d. ago John Lithgow and Lesley Manville take home acting gongs at starry Olivier Awards

Imelda Staunton and Romola Garai were among the winners of the night

Events

8 d. ago Hey DJ, got any Kanye? Yes. It’s on my ‘do not play’ list | Oliver Keen

I get why wedding DJs are increasingly discerning. Our job is to spread joy on the dancefloor – not upset and divisionI have DJed at some impressively esoteric weddings in my time. I started playing clubs in 1999, but in the mid-2000s I started advertising myself as a wedding DJ on the era-defining digital noticeboard Gumtree. One heroic couple only wanted the music of abrasive Manchester geniuses the Fall for the entirety of their nuptials. Another sweet couple wanted to evoke the night they met at 5am at the London gay club Fire – so hired me to bang out punishing hard house from 5pm in a hotel function room.From experience, people who hire wedding DJs are usually fairly clear about what they like. They may provide a short list of songs they love, usually across a few genres, and trust a DJ to fill in the gaps. It’s rarer that people are clear what they explicitly don’t like. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Dreamers review – this teen dance drama is too subtle for its own good. Where’s the debauchery?

Where other teen shows ramp up the sex, drugs and scandal, this Leeds-set saga about rivalries in a dance school keeps it real – so real it almost refuses to be entertainingThe implausibility of the teen drama may well be the genre’s defining feature. In the 00s, we were subjected to untold glamour and relentless wisecracking by US imports such as The OC and Gossip Girl. The UK equivalent was Skins, in which a group of Bristolian party animals managed to make practically every personal problem known to man look intimidatingly cool. More recently, we’ve had mind-blowing levels of debauchery from Euphoria, mind-blowing levels of sexual literacy and candour from Sex Education and mind-blowing levels of heartwarming niceness from Heartstopper. All of it is ludicrous in its own way.Dreamers is different. It is realistic – jarringly so. That’s both a pro and a con for this Channel 4 drama about a group of teenage dancers living in Leeds. The series – written by Lisa Holdsworth (Waterloo R...

Events

2 w. ago Manchester City enter Last Dance era under Guardiola with FA Cup in sights

Some players’ futures are in doubt but beating Bournemouth could help those they leave behindPep Guardiola is a basketball aficionado and has often been seen courtside in America trying to learn from one of the world’s most intense sports. The Manchester City manager holds Michael Jordan in high esteem and it feels as if the next two months may be the club’s version of the basketball legend’s Last Dance documentary for some of their senior players. The FA Cup is the NBA championship for those wondering where they may start next season.City face a second trip of the season to Bournemouth, where their 32-match unbeaten run ended in November, hoping to reach a semi-final at Wembley for the seventh successive year. Guardiola and his side have barely recovered since losing Rodri, City’s Jordan according to his coach, and a second defeat by Andoni Iraola’s men on Sunday would remove any chance of a trophy for the Spaniard and his ageing charges this season. Jordan was asked for one great ...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Even with segregation, they dressed up and danced’: the radical joy of 1960s Indigenous deb balls

In 1966, 16-year-old Norma Ingram was ‘presented’ to Sydney society. Now her granddaughter, the playwright Dalara Williams, has written a play celebrating the historic vibrancy of RedfernGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailOn a Friday night in April 1966, 16-year-old Norma Ingram was one of seven young Aboriginal women formally “presented” as part of the inaugural Sydney Indigenous debutante ball at Paddington Town Hall. “It was a lot of that old English stuff, ‘coming out into society’,” the Wiradjuri woman says of the event, which was attended by some 200 Aboriginal people.Revellers passed under a boomerang arch to enter the hall, which was festooned with Indigenous motifs in ochre colours. Ingram wore a white ballgown. “We were all just teenagers,” she says of her debutante cohort. “It was fun for us, and we made a whole lot of new friends.” Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Strictly Come Dancing receives rare Bafta TV awards snub after infamous scandal

Popular dancing competition has dominated the ceremony previously, securing a win just last year – but the bullying scandal might have hurt its chances at 2025 ceremony

Events

2 w. ago Has Dancing on Ice been axed? ITV makes decision on 2026 season

Dancing on Ice has been axed by ITV after its 2025 series ⛸

Culture

3 w. ago Comic Relief 2025 presenters from Strictly Come Dancing stars to Masked Singer judges

It's Comic Relief's Red Nose Day, which culminates in an evening of live entertainment on BBC One and Two, hosted by some well known faces, including a Masked Singer star and one of the event's original hosts

Events

3 w. ago A spring dance and a fish protest: photos of the day – Tuesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Culture

4 w. ago ‘We grew up among drugs and violence. Dance kept us focused’: Oti Mabuse on Strictly, survival and self

When Mabuse lost her brother, dance helped her grieve. Then it made her a star. She talks about her childhood in South Africa, life in Britain, and the ‘full-on’ training for her new tourIn news that should gladden the nation, Oti Mabuse – beloved dancer, grafter and bringer of joy – has just become a British citizen. My own feeling is that Mabuse should have received instant citizenship along with her national treasure status, thanks to her work on Strictly Come Dancing, on which she competed for seven years. At least, thanks to the Life in the UK test, she knows all about our mountains, parliaments and islands, she says with a laugh.No time to celebrate – Mabuse is in the middle of preparing for her new dance tour, Viva Carnival, which opens this summer. Her previous show, I Am Here, “was very personal, about South Africa and growing up, and everything that happened there, and the reasons why I am the way I am. I wanted a slight continuation of that – not where I come from, but wh...

Events