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Strictly Come Dancing's behind-the-scenes secrets as show makes its return

Strictly Come Dancing made its return to screens with the celebrities taking to the dance floor for the first live show last weekend.

Viewers have already been speculating who they think could make it to the grand final, with names such as Fleur East, Jayde Adams and Will Mellor thrown into the mix.

However, there's also been rumours of a feud less than two weeks into the competition - with Richie Anderson forced to speak out and deny he's having problems with his professional partner Giovanni Pernice.

Here we take a look at some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of one of the BBC's biggest shows.

The full line-up of celebrities taking part in the 2022 series of Strictly Come Dancing (

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PA)

How long do they rehearse for?

Strictly viewers probably assume that the celebrities have a full five or six days to learn their new routine, but that's definitely not the case.

Despite having Sunday to Saturday to practice their next routine, the couples have to do promo and keep up to commitments to other TV appearances such as Strictly: It Takes Two and interviews on other shows such as Lorraine and tend to only have about three and half days to rehearse.

Matt Goss is partnered with professional Nadiya Bychkova for the 2022 series (

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PA)

Speaking to Daily Star last year, former professional AJ Pritchard said: "When you consider Sunday is your day off because the results show airs on Sunday night but in the week you would usually be doing promo, going on Lorraine in the week and talking about your experience to press, therefore you only get three and a half days in a studio to learn that dance."

Contestants are required to do a minimum of 12 hours training a week for a routine lasting two minutes.

However, some dedicated celebs have been known to do that in just one day, particularly when the show draws into the final weeks.

Helen Skelton performing her first proper dance with Gorka Marquez (

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PA)

How the songs are picked

The celebrities and professional dancers are tasked with learning a new dance each week, but for the pros, there's even more work involved as they also need to choreograph their number for their celebrity partner.

The dancers are given a pool of songs to choose from, which fit with the theme.

The tracks are always a mix of old and new songs to appeal to a wide audience and from there, the professionals confirm their choice with producers and get choreographing.

The in-house singers then get the rest of the week to learn the song before performing it live on BBC One on a Saturday night.

Graziano Di Prima and Kym Marsh during the first live show (

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PA)

Why there's a delay in scoring

Viewers familiar with the show will know that it takes a little while to hear the verdict of judges Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas.

That's because the judges need to let the crew know first of all which paddle they're going to hold up.

They have a special keypad hidden under their desks where they submit their score, so the crew can seamlessly show it on the screen for viewers at home as well as update the leaderboard straight away.

Strictly's judges - Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke - must give their scores to the crew first before holding up their famous paddles (

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PA)

Long days of filming

While the show may only been on for a couple of hours on a Saturday night - and the results show broadcasted on Sunday - filming takes a long time.

Both episodes of the show are actually filmed on the same evening, with the Saturday show coming live to people's homes and the Sunday night show being broadcasted as if it is live.

There is also a lot of footage which doesn't appear on the final edit of the show and with the filming of the Sunday show, any slip-ups - which normally includes someone referring to the show as today and not yesterday - can easily be edited out for continuity purposes.

While the show may only been on for a couple of hours on a Saturday night, filming takes a long time (

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PA)

Group dances are filmed in advance

Some viewers might not be aware that the professional group numbers are actually filmed well in advance.

In fact, the last few years saw the dancers record all of their Sunday night routines before the series even started - due to Covid.

This year, the professionals were seen filming the 2022 opening sequence in August - more than a month before the launch show.

In the snaps, a number of the show's most well known dancers including Gorka Marquez, Cameron Lombard, Johannes Radebe, Graziano Di Prima, Nikita Kuzmin were seen looking relaxed as they took a moment away from filming.

Some viewers might not be aware that the professional group numbers are actually filmed well in advance (

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PA)

Lots of waiting around - and naps

The celebrities and their pros get a chance to rehearse all day - but they make sure to get a break before the big show.

"We get an hour or two before the live show, so we just switch the lights off and lie down in the dark," former Strictly star AJ told The Mirror.

"I ended up falling asleep. Giovanni fell asleep. All the pros just fall asleep. We have a group power nap where we’re all out of it."

The judges have time to prepare their criticism

Head judge Shirley Ballas gives her expert take (

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BBC)

Saturday night's show is not the first time the judges see each couple perform the routine.

After a rehearsal in the studio on Friday, the couples take part in a full dress rehearsal on Saturday morning - again in the Elstree studio - which the four judges watch in their dressing room.

The judges are not given any advice on their scoring or their criticism but this sneak peek helps give them a few ideas ahead of the live show.