Taylor Swift and Beyonce to be honoured in Strictly Come Dancing's inaugural icons week

Taylor Swift and Beyonce are set to be celebrated during Strictly Come Dancing's first-ever icons week. The remaining 10 celebrity contestants and their professional partners will hit the dance floor on Saturday night, each performing a routine to a hit song from a renowned artist.

In a nod to music "icons", the professional dancers will deliver a Beyonce medley with Johannes Radebe embodying the star's Sasha Fierce persona in Sunday’s results show. On Saturday, JLS's JB Gill and Lauren Oakley will present their couple’s choice to a Bruno Mars medley.

Oakley, who is not paired with a celebrity this season, steps in for Gill after his partner Amy Dowden was sidelined due to a health scare last Sunday. Oakley is back competing following her own health journey, having received treatment for breast cancer, including a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

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Discussing Icons Week and her inspirations, she mentioned: "My oncologists and doctors who helped me through my Crohn’s and cancer battles."

"My parents, who instilled a strong work ethic in me, and my twin sister, who’s my best friend. Also, my husband, who gave up his own competitive dancing career so I could shine."

Additionally, comedian Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will honour rock legends Kiss with a tango to Rock And Roll All Nite.

Reality TV star Pete Wicks is set to embody Freddie Mercury as he performs a salsa to Queen's hit song Another One Bites The Dust with partner Jowita Przystal. Meanwhile, Olympian Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe will waltz to Whitney Houston's classic I Will Always Love You.

Paying tribute to singer-songwriter Taylor Swift are former field hockey player Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin, who will perform an American smooth to Love Story. Quek said: "Taylor Swift. She’s been through so much and been publicly humiliated."

"She started from the bottom, in terms of a little stage in a park with 20 people watching and she had setbacks but she kept going."

"We’re similar ages so I can relate to Taylor Swift, even though she’s in another stratosphere of fame and success."

"I’ve been through that in terms of setbacks and knockbacks and people saying you can’t do that, you’re not good enough, and then actually just being like, I can do it."

Actress Sarah Hadland, known for her role in Miranda, will channel her inner Madonna in a cha cha to Like A Prayer with partner Vito Coppola.

Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec will celebrate US singer Pink with a couple's choice dance to What About Us. EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick and partner Michelle Tsiakkas will samba to George Michael's iconic song Faith, while singer Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu will pay tribute to The Beatles with a quickstep to Help.

The results show will also feature a performance by K-Pop boyband dearALICE. The live show will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday at 6:30pm.