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Strictly Come Dancing bosses are prioritising celebrities with big social media followings.

The celeb cast for the 2026 series is nearly complete, but disappointed fans of the BBC's flagship show have criticised the 'weak' line-up.

Now an insider has revealed the broadcaster has a casting strategy as part of its major overhaul of the show, which has been running for 22 years.

This year the series has been deliberate in its targeting of celebs with big social media followings, in a ploy to attract younger and new viewers to the show and follow a similar, hugely, successful social media strategy employed by its US counterpart Dancing With the Stars.

'Although your traditional Strictly audience might not know who some of the signings are, that's not as important as bringing in new viewers who are more than familiar with them,' the source revealed.

'Their followers are vast in numbers, enthusiastic and, by sharing content on Strictly, raise the profile of the show massively.

Strictly Come Dancing bosses are prioritising celebrities with big social media followings including Kim Kardashian's hair stylist Chris Appleton who boasts over 7m fans online

The celeb cast for the 2026 series is nearly complete, but disappointed fans of the BBC's flagship show have criticised the 'weak' line-up made up of reality stars like Dani Dyer

'And, in time, the viewers who don't know these people get to know them. If anything they end up going on much more of a "Strictly Journey" than the stars you'd describe as "household names,"' the source added to The Sun.

This year's line-up includes Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Graeme 'The Dogfather' Hall, Lawrence Robb and Tabby Stoecker.

Celebs like Kim Kardashian's hair stylist Appleton might not be a mainstream celeb name, but he does boast a huge social media following with over seven million fans online.

Sports YouTuber Nellis has an even bigger fanbase with a whopping 19.7m followers across his platforms.

US show Dancing With The Stars has used their celeb contestants' followings to their advantage, introducing a 'TikTok Night', in 2025 – an episode which saw the contestants perform viral dance routines, sparking an uptick in interaction from younger viewers.

The TikTok account for DWTS now has over five million followers, in comparison to Strictly's 600k.

Before this year's Strictly celeb line-up was announced, the professional dancers on the show were part of the same strategy.

In recent months popular dancers Nadiya Bychkova, Karen Hauer, Michelle Tsiakkas, Luba Mushtuk and Gorka Marquez have all been given the boot.

Meanwhile five new young pros have been recruited with ballroom champ Maddie Ingoldsby boasting over 400k followers (L-R Maddie, Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi and Mark Karmalita)

It's understood that those pros with bigger online followings have been chosen over dancers who are not so TikTok friendly as the series tries desperately to attract a younger audience.

One example appears to be axed Nadiya Bychkova, who has 214k Insta followers, while Dianne Buswell, with 1.2m Instagram followers and 973k on TikTok, has kept her place in the line-up.

Meanwhile five new young pros have been recruited with ballroom champ Maddie Ingoldsby boasting over 400k followers.

Former Strictly judge and renowned choreographer Arlene Phillips recently criticised the pro hirings, telling GMB last month: 'The new pros, as long as they can dance. I mean, most of them are sort of influencers and they talk an awful lot. As long as those pros can dance.'

The trio of new hosts also have a strong online presence. Comedian Josh Widdicombe has over half a million Instagram followers on his personal account whilst the Insta page for his hugely popular podcast Parenting Hell has 250k.

The trio of new hosts also have a strong online presence. Comedian Josh Widdicombe has over half a million Instagram followers on his personal account

Emma Willis has two million fans following her on Instagram and fan favourite dancer Johannes Radebe, who will act as a co-presenter this year, has 458k followers.

The insider has explained that the BBC struggles to attract big-name celebrities these days, because the landscape has changed.

The source continued: 'Crucially the pipeline that used to feed these big shows has changed.

'Boyband and girlband stars aren't as prevalent any more and, once upon a time, getting someone from a soap or a big drama was a massive deal, but now even that has diminished somewhat.

'Now, though, social media is continuing to boom and big stars from the world of TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are known to a vast section of society.'