BBC Strictly Come Dancing Samba-Thon: What it is and how it works as all couples take part

Week ten of Strictly Come Dancing's 2024 series brings a fresh challenge for the couples in the form the much-loved Dance-A-Thon. The BBC One dance contest returns on Saturday night (November 23) with the remaining seven couples taking to the ballroom floor following last weekend's Blackpool special.

Following their near-perfect scores last weekend, Tasha Ghouri and Sarah Hadland will both be trying to impress with their respective dance partners, Aljaz Skorjanec and Vito Coppola. While the former pairing will dance and American Smooth to Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi, the later will perform a Rmba to Chains by Tina Arena.

Meanwhile, hoping to bounce back from their second time in the dreaded dance-off, this series will be Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe with a Quickstep to Get Happy by Ella Fitzgerald while Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal will be aiming for better than bottom of the leaderboard this weekend with their Tango to Easy Lover by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins.

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After getting their highest score of the series in Blackpool, Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will return to the ballroom with a Paso Doble to El Gato Montes by Manuel Panella. JB Gill and Lauren Oakley will dance the Charleston to Yes Sir! That’s My Baby by Firehouse Five Plus Two while Jamie Borthwick and and Michelle Tsiakkas Foxtrot to Stand By Me by Ben E. King.

But, there's a major return to the competition as the final edges closer and the Glitterball trophy moves into sight. The Dance-A-Thon was a small additional group routine challenge, where all the remaining couples danced a routine simultaneously on the ballroom floor to get extra points from the judges.

The challenge originated during series seven of Strictly in 2009 and whilst the formatting remained the same each series that followed, the dance style changed. The dance challenge was last performed during series 16 in 2018 but now it's set to return in a matter of weeks.

During the latest live show, having performed their planned routines, the remaining Strictly couples will return to the ballroom floor together to impress the judges with their best Samba moves in this series Samba-Thon.

The Dance-A-Thon format is a staple of Ballroom and Latin dance competitions around the world and its timely return for this special 20th anniversary series is a nod towards the world of professional Ballroom and Latin dancing.

But how does it work? The couples will shimmy back on to the ballroom floor to Samba as a group before the judges eliminate couples one by one, until the winner is crowned. The couples will need to quickly impress the judges as their final position in the Samba-Thon will have an impact on the overall score for the night.

The first couple to be eliminated in the Samba-Thon will be awarded one point, with the second couple eliminated earning two points and so on, through to the winner who will have seven points added to their leaderboard position which is made up of the judges scores from their main dance in the show that evening. This means that the Samba-Thon could have a real impact on who stays and who leaves the competition.