Delta Goodrem will return to the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom on Saturday night after being given the all clear to dance following the rib injury that ruled her out of Icons Week.
The BBC confirmed the news on Monday, saying: "Following her bye last week due to injury, we're delighted to confirm Delta has been given the all clear to dance again this weekend." The singer and her professional partner Kai Widdrington have been back in the training room this week, with viewers given a first look at their rehearsals on It Takes Two.
Her comeback is one of the stories of the series so far. Goodrem topped the week three leaderboard with 33 points before the injury struck, and her enforced absence from Icons Week, where each couple received a routine inspired by a musical great, was the night's poignant subplot. Under the show's rules she was granted a bye straight through to week five.
Twelve couples, one mirror ball
Twelve couples remain in the competition after a results night on Sunday that saw Dame Sarah Storey become the third celebrity to leave, losing the dance-off to Bethany Antonia. The judges' save kept the House of the Dragon star in the contest, while Britain's most decorated Paralympian bowed out with a tango to Shania Twain.
The songs and dances for week five have been trickling out all week. Among the highlights, Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin will rumba to Mariah Carey's Hero, John Nellis and Katya Jones take on the paso doble to Bon Jovi's It's My Life, and Will Best and Dianne Buswell will jive to Elton John's Crocodile Rock. Goodrem and Widdrington's own routine, confirmed this week, has been closely guarded, but the pair are said to have adapted it around her recovery.
Strictly 2026: Where We Are
- Week five airs on BBC One and iPlayer at 6.30pm on Saturday 24 October, with the results show on Sunday.
- Delta Goodrem returns after a bye for a rib injury; she topped the week three leaderboard with 33.
- Twelve couples remain after Dame Sarah Storey became the third celebrity eliminated.
- Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe are this year's new presenting trio.
- The Halloween special follows on Saturday 31 October.
The road to Halloween
After Saturday comes the series' traditional Halloween special on 31 October, a fixture that tends to sort the contenders from the also rans. With Goodrem fit again, Cach Mercer and Tabby Stoecker scoring consistently in the low thirties, and the judges reminding everyone that the leaderboard is compressing, week five lands as the most open round of the series yet. The glitterball, for the first time this autumn, feels genuinely up for grabs.