James Jordan’s Strictly Come Dancing Preview: “I think we're in safe hands there”

In the first of an ongoing weekly series exclusive to WhichBingo, Strictly Come Dancing legend James Jordan provides us with his expert opinion and dancing insight to preview the new series.

Once the the show gets underway, James will be dishing out his own scores on the doors, week by week as well as predicting which couple will be eliminated. Play along in the comments section, to join in on the fun!

Read on for the James Jordan Strictly 2026 preview, including beyond the ballroom involving a candid discussion about:

• His podcast Manopause
• Celebrity Traitors
• Life on Tour

If you’re new to WhichBingo, alongside our exclusive interviews, we help you compare UK bingo sites and find out what they offer. Explore our bingo sites guide.

On Strictly

New faces, old scepticism

With Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman gone, Strictly has handed hosting duties to Emma Willis, comedian Josh Widdicombe, and professional dancer Johannes Radebe.

Jordan, who has worked with Willis before on Big Brother, is unequivocal about her.

“She’s absolutely amazing, a wonderful woman, fantastic at what she does. I think we’re in safe hands there.”

He’s more guarded on the other two.

“It’s very hard for me to comment because I’ve never seen them in that role.

Would I have put those three people together? No. I don’t see the three working well together, but I hope I’m proved wrong.”

Still, he’s wary of writing anyone off early, pointing out he was just as sceptical when Winkleman and Daly were first paired together.

“I thought, why are they putting two women on just to tick a box? But it was brilliant. I eat my words and say I was wrong.”

His own fantasy line-up

Given free rein, Jordan would have gone a different way entirely.

“I wanted Zoe [Ball] and Anton [Du Beke]. I thought that would go back to the old days.”

He’d have gone further still, adding himself to the judging panel.

“… A bit of bite.”

One head judge, not a rotation

Jordan isn’t a fan of the show’s rotating head judge format, and wants it scrapped in favour of a single, permanent authority, the way Len Goodman once held the role.

“When Len was head judge, he was head judge. He had final say.

I like the fact that Shirley was head judge. Give it back to her. Let her be head judge.”

The end of the reveal

Strictly has already confirmed this year’s celebrity and professional pairings ahead of the launch show, rather than revealing them live on air as it has done in the past. Jordan preferred the old way.

“I always liked the pairings on the show. The anticipation of who’s going to get who. Like you have your favourite pro, which celebrity are they going to get. I like that.”

Neil Jones, the forgotten man

For the second year running, Neil Jones has missed out on a celebrity partner altogether. Jordan doesn’t read it as a red flag exactly, but he clearly feels for him.

“He’s been on the show for years and years and a lot of times not got celebrity partners, but he still obviously loves the show and continues to be part of it.

For whatever reason, they don’t rate him as high as some of the other professional dancers, which I think is a shame, because he’s a brilliant dancer, brilliant choreographer.

He’s not had someone that he could see making it to the finals with. If he got that, we’d be able to see a bit more of his capabilities.”

New faces, blind faith

Jordan is upfront about not recognising much of this year’s celebrity line-up, which includes a soap actor and a hairdresser among its more unfamiliar names.

“I am not a big TV watcher, so I don’t know who most of these people are.” It doesn’t worry him.

“You could have 12 or 15 unknown people on there and you’re going to fall in love with them because of the way the show works.”

On the launch itself, he’s cautiously bullish.

“It’s going to have a bit of an overhaul and I’m really excited to see what they’re going to bring.”

He’s not promising to go easy on it either.

“If it’s rubbish, I will tell you it’s rubbish.”

Bring the Honesty Back

That instinct to reserve judgement doesn’t extend to the standard of critique on the judging panel, which Jordan feels has softened considerably.

He recounts being promised a judging seat on Dancing on Ice before the role went elsewhere at the last minute.

“I was told I was going into that position, and then last minute it was changed.”

Still, he insists his appetite for judging hasn’t dimmed and he’d love to be Strictly Judge:

“It would be the dream job.

I don’t know if they’re ready for the honesty, but I do think we need a bit of reality back on these panels. You don’t have to be personal or horrible. You just have to be honest with people.”

He’d like Craig Revel Horwood to rediscover his edge, too.

“Even Craig’s gone a bit soft. I want the big, bad Craig back a bit.”

His view on the wider culture around feedback is blunt.

“If your mental health is in such a bad place that you can’t take someone saying you didn’t do a very good job, maybe you shouldn’t be on the show.”

james jordan karen hauer exit

Karen Hauer’s exit after 14 years on Strictly, one of several professional-dancer departures this year, was a major talking point in the media. Commenting on it, James said:

“She should be very happy she managed 14 years. That’s more than most people get before they’re asked to leave.

It happened before, back in 2009 and 2010, when they let six or eight pros go in one go. You have to accept that as you get older, it comes to an end at some point.”

For Jordan, no single name, judge or host is bigger than the format itself.

“You could change every single person and the show would still work, because it’s got magic about it.

The real unsung heroes are the make-up team, the costume department, the camera crew: the people who make it run like a Swiss watch.”

“Put a dress on. You’re on a dance show, not a football pitch.”

He’d still like to see the show lean back into its roots, with fewer theme weeks and novelty costumes and more traditional ballroom.

“Sometimes you’ve got people coming out in football shorts doing a jive. Put a dress on. You’re on a dance show, not a football pitch.”

He’s similarly candid on the debate around British talent among the professional dancers, admitting he’s “on the fence” given his own wife’s history on the show as a Polish contestant.

Still, he’d like to see more homegrown dancers given the opportunity.

Beyond the ballroom

The James Jordan Manopause podcast

Menopause, which he co-hosts with fellow Strictly alumnus Brendan Cole, draws out his most unguarded material.

Born out of conversations the pair had while touring together, it tackles grief, career upheaval, and men’s mental health: territory Jordan admits he once dismissed outright.

“I used to be one of those people going, ‘just crack on, everyone’s got rubbish in their life.’ Only now do I really empathise with people who are in a bad place.”

He describes himself as an over thinker and says he’s:

“not in a great place, but not in a dark place either.”

He credits Cole with becoming one of the few people he speaks to properly.

“He calls me in the mornings. Men need that in their lives.”

He’s also trying methods he’d once have written off, including breathwork, after a guest on the podcast changed his mind.

“If you’d said that to me five years ago, I’d have said it was a load of rubbish.”

Celebrity Traitors

He’s more playful on the subject of Celebrity Traitors, which airs opposite Strictly this year.

Asked whether he’d take part if invited, there’s no hesitation.

“Oh, 100%, I’d love it.“

Of course I’d want to be a traitor, but it might be too obvious. Stir it up a little bit, play some games.”

We could see that working well, with a James Jordan Celebrity Traitors debut in 2027.

Life on tour

Physically, the day job hasn’t got any easier.

Currently touring The Legends in Vegas: After Hours alongside Cole, Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone, Jordan is managing four hernia surgeries, sciatica and a “dodgy” hip.

That’s while rehearsing next to the seemingly indestructible Cole.

“If I did what he does, I’d be a broken man.”

Even so, a fifty-day Dance Travels tour with Cole is already booked in for next year.

“My body’s brittle, but I love being on that stage too much to stop yet.”

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James Jordan’s Strictly Come Dancing weekly previews will drop every Friday afternoon, exclusively on WhichBingo.