Strictly stars gear up for Musicals week as final looms

It's just two weeks to go until the final of Strictly Come Dancing 2025, and things are heating up on the ballroom floor.

Saturday night sees the return of Musicals week, which will feature songs from The Phantom of the Opera and Guys and Dolls, among others.

There will also be a new dance relay performance to open the show, which will see all of the remaining couples take to the floor.

Musicals week will also see some special guest appearances, from Paddington Bear to the cast of hit West End show Titanique.

Who is dancing to what this week?

• Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin - Charleston to Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat from Guys and Dolls
• Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon - Viennese Waltz to Never Enough from The Greatest Showman
• George Clarke and Alexis Warr – Argentine Tango to The Point of No Return from The Phantom of the Opera
• Lewis Cope and Katya Jones – Salsa to Dance at the Gym from West Side Story
• Karen Carney and Carlos Gu - Samba to The Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity

What happened last week?

Warning: The section below includes spoilers from last week's Strictly

Last Saturday, Lewis and Katya made Strictly history by winning the first-ever Instant Dance challenge.

Before the challenge, Karen and Amber both scored perfect 40s - it was Karen's first of the series.

It was another strong week for George and Alexis, with judge Craig Revel Horwood telling the pair their Quickstep was "a joy to watch".

But Alex and Johannes didn't fare as well on the leaderboard with their Cha Cha Cha.

Two celebrities ended up in Sunday night's dance off - Balvinder Sopal and Alex Kingston.

And in the end, the judges decided to save Balvinder, meaning Alex became the latest star to exit the contest.

New dance relay performance

This year's Strictly has seen a number of new challenges that are shaking up the format of the show.

Hot on the heels of last week's Instant Dance challenge, there's another new addition to this week's show.

This time, it's a "dance relay", which will take place at the start of Saturday night's show.

The five-minute challenge will see each pair take to the floor as part of a celebration of musicals.

Songs from shows including My Fair Lady, Oliver!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins Returns will all feature, as the remaining couples battle for viewers' votes.

Musicals Week will also see the professionals perform Cell Block Tango from Chicago, as well as performances from former Strictly contestant Tom Fletcher alongside Paddington Bear who is making his Strictly debut.

It's approaching crunch time in the show, with the grand final taking place on 20 December.

At this stage, things can get very unpredictable. Even a decent score can land you in the bottom half of the leaderboard, and with so few couples remaining, there's everything to play for.

And on Sunday night, two more couples will face the dreaded dance-off, with another set to be sent home.

Strictly Come Dancing is on Saturday at 18:50 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.