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Series eight of Strictly Come Dancing will return to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One with a live Saturday night competition followed by a Sunday night results show, in which viewers will see their favourite competitors saved from elimination.

The Sunday night results show will be presented together by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Controller of Entertainment Commissioning, Mark Linsey, says: "Strictly pioneered the Sunday night results format and this year we're back with the perfect finish to the weekend.

"Tess and Claudia were the obvious choices to present and we're really proud that a fresh Strictly will return with must-see, family event television."

The 30-minute results show will not feature a dance-off, but will feature a professional dance performance and the all-important elimination.

The first live competition shows will be split over 1 and 2 October and won't be followed by a results show. Instead, the judges will score the competitors to create a leader board, which will be carried over to the second week. Then, the show will follow a Saturday night competition followed by Sunday night results format. This will allow audiences two weeks to decide on their favourite before voting.

Claudia Winkleman says: "I'm properly excited about working alongside Tess on the Sunday results show. I'll be fully immersed in all things tango and sequin as I'm still hosting It Takes Two weeknights on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two, too.

"They've just told me the line-up. One word – excited."

Series eight of Strictly Come Dancing will launch with a one-hour show on 11 September and the first live show will be broadcast on 1 October.

The first results show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, will be broadcast on 10 October.

Notes to Editors

Strictly Come Dancing is available on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD.

Strictly Come Dancing holds several awards including a National Television Award for Most Popular Talent Show, voted for by members of the British Public in 2008, and an RTS award for Best Entertainment Programme.

The show appears in the Guinness World Records 2010 as the world's most successful reality television format, and it is estimated that more than a quarter of a billion people watched an international version of the show since its launch.

You can get all the up-to-date gossip on the sister show It Takes Two, weekdays at 6.30pm on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two.

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