Strictly Come Dancing Gifts: 26 Ideas for Fans (2026)

By Linda Garrould · Last refreshed: 15 August 2026 · Every product checked in stock on Amazon UK the day this page was updated.

The best Strictly Come Dancing gifts are the ones that land while the glitterball is still spinning. Series 24 launches on BBC One on Saturday 19 September 2026, which gives you a clear run at Christmas and a household already in the mood. Buy in October and you are shopping alongside everyone else; buy now and the annual is in print, the calendar has not sold out, and the good mugs have not gone to that maddening “temporarily unavailable” state they always reach by the first week of December.

This is a properly odd year to be buying Strictly presents, and it works in your favour. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have gone; Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe front the show now. That makes Johannes’s memoir the gift of the season for anyone who has followed him since 2018, and it makes the 2027 annual — the first to document the new era — rather more of a keepsake than usual.

We have sorted everything below by the way people actually shop for it: the official annual and calendar first, then Strictly merchandise proper (the mugs, socks and stocking fillers), then puzzle books, the judges’ and hosts’ own writing, learn-to-dance guides, the DVDs and finally a glitterball. Every item was checked in stock on Amazon UK on the day this page was refreshed, and anything delisted or thinly reviewed has been taken out.

The official Strictly shelf: 2027 annual, calendar and Blackpool

Start here. The official annual is the safest Strictly gift there is — it lands every autumn, it is always a hardback, and it is the one thing a fan will actually keep on a shelf rather than in a drawer. The 2027 edition is the first to cover the new presenting line-up, so this year it is a genuine keepsake rather than a repeat. The wall calendar is the natural companion and the classic secret-santa answer at around a tenner.

Official Strictly Come Dancing Annual 2027New edition · just published · £14.99The first annual of the Emma Willis era — and the one to buy before it sells through in December.

Strictly Come Dancing 2027 Official Square Wall CalendarNew edition · just published · £10.99Officially licensed, month-to-view, large square format. The reliable under-£15 present.

Official Strictly Come Dancing Annual 20264.7/5 · 233 reviews · £7.49Last year’s annual, now roughly half price. The value pick, and no less handsome.

Strictly Blackpool4.8/5 · 64 reviews · £16.90The Tower Ballroom week, in full. For the fan who says Blackpool is the only night that counts.

Strictly merchandise: mugs, socks and stocking fillers

Official Strictly merchandise is thinner on the ground than you would expect for a show this size — the BBC licenses books, calendars and DVDs generously and hard goods barely at all. What fills the gap is a lively cottage industry of British printers doing mugs, keyrings and novelty socks, and the good ones are very good. These are the best-reviewed Strictly gifts under £15, and between them they cover most of a Christmas stocking.

‘I’d Rather Be Watching Strictly’ Mug4.5/5 · 39 reviews · £10.99The best-reviewed Strictly mug on Amazon UK, and the one that reads as affectionate rather than tat.

‘Keep Calm and Keep Dancing’ Glitter Ball Mug4.3/5 · 46 reviews · £12.99Glitterball motif in purple. Dishwasher-safe ceramic, which matters more than it sounds.

Personalised ‘New Head Judge’ Strictly Mug4.4/5 · 12 reviews · £12.49Cartoon judges holding paddles, with a name added. The one that gets a laugh on Christmas morning.

Dancing Couples Novelty Ankle Socks (Waltz, Jive, Salsa)4.4/5 · 120 reviews · £9.99Unisex, size 6–11. Quietly the most-worn present on this page.

‘Keep Calm and Watch Strictly’ Keyring4.4/5 · 31 reviews · £4.48Double-sided, under a fiver. The cracker filler or the tag on a bigger gift.

Strictly Christmas Card — ‘Get Out Your Glitter Balls!’4.8/5 · 76 reviews · £3.954.8 stars, which is a remarkable score for a greetings card. Send it to the friend you text during the results show.

Puzzle books and quizzes for Strictly fans

The reliable sub-£15 present for someone who has the annual already. Both of these are the sort of thing that gets picked up between rounds of the Boxing Day quiz and then quietly finished by New Year.

The Official Strictly Come Dancing Puzzle Book4.5/5 · 128 reviews · £12.25200 brain-teasers, officially licensed. Harder than it looks, which is the point.

Strictly Come Dancing Word Search Book4.3/5 · 114 reviews · £5.99Under £6 and genuinely absorbing. A good travelling companion.

Books by the judges, the hosts and the professionals

The richest seam on the page, and the one where Strictly gifts stop being novelties and start being proper presents. Anton Du Beke has quietly become a Sunday Times bestselling novelist; Shirley Ballas and Craig Revel Horwood have both written memoirs with rather more grit in them than the sequins suggest; and Johannes Radebe’s Jojo is, this year, the obvious gift.

Jojo — Johannes Radebe4.7/5 · 2,051 reviews · £8.02The new host’s memoir — Zamdela to the Tower Ballroom. Funny in places, hard-going in others, and the Strictly book of the moment.

A Christmas to Remember — Anton Du Beke4.6/5 · 4,369 reviews · £5.26Festive, warm and set in his Buckingham Hotel world. The best-reviewed book here, and perfectly seasonal.

The Paris Affair — Anton Du Beke4.5/5 · 1,975 reviews · £9.49For the reader who has already worked through the Buckingham Hotel novels.

Behind the Sequins: My Life — Shirley Ballas4.6/5 · 151 reviews · £12.49The head judge’s memoir, and considerably more candid than the paddle-holding suggests.

Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street — Craig Revel Horwood4.6/5 · 92 reviews · £6.50Under £7. Sharper and funnier on the page than he is behind the desk.

Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive — Oti Mabuse4.7/5 · 212 reviews · £6.64For readers aged 3 and up. The gift for a grandchild who watches it with you.

Learn to dance at home

For the fan who has started saying “we could do that” at the television. Both of these are step-by-step and genuinely beginner-pitched — no studio, no partner required for the early chapters, and no need to own the shoes.

Craig Revel Horwood’s Ballroom Dancing: A Step-by-Step Guide4.2/5 · 92 reviews · £14.99Waltz, quickstep, cha-cha and the rest, broken down properly. The most useful book on this page.

Strictly Come Dancing: Step-by-Step Dance Class4.4/5 · 41 reviews · £2.69Officially licensed and often under £3 second-hand. Absurd value for a stocking.

Strictly on DVD: the classic series box sets

Cheerfully unfashionable, uniformly well reviewed, and almost all of them under a fiver. If the fan in question still has a player, a stack of these is a generous-looking present for very little money — and they are the only way to watch most of these specials now.

Motsi & Anton’s Strictly The Best [DVD]4.6/5 · 943 reviews · £4.25The best-reviewed Strictly DVD there is, by some distance.

Anton’s Truly Madly Strictly [DVD]4.7/5 · 616 reviews · £3.344.7 stars and under £3.50. The single best value on this page.

The Best of Strictly: Len’s Grand Finale [DVD]4.5/5 · 432 reviews · £3.95Len Goodman’s send-off, for the viewer who still misses him.

Tess & Craig’s Christmas Night In [DVD]4.5/5 · 281 reviews · £3.99A nice piece of nostalgia now that Tess has left — and a Christmas Eve fixture in some houses.

Shirley and Craig’s Perfect 10 [DVD]4.6/5 · 327 reviews · £3.12The judges pick the tens. Endlessly re-watchable and barely £3.

And, inevitably, a glitterball

It had to be here. A mirror ball is the one Strictly gift that works as a decoration rather than a keepsake — hang it in a window over Christmas, or above the table for a party, and it earns its keep long after the final.

200mm Mirror Disco Ball with Hanging Ring4.3/5 · 1,031 reviews · £10.39Over a thousand reviews, and about £10. Genuinely handsome hung in a bay window.

Strictly questions, answered

When does Strictly Come Dancing 2026 start?

The series 24 launch show airs on BBC One on Saturday 19 September 2026, with the live shows beginning the following Saturday, 26 September, and the final expected in the week before Christmas. That mid-September start is the practical reason to buy Strictly gifts now rather than in November: the official annual and calendar are in print and in stock from late summer, and both routinely go to back-order once the series is under way.

Who presents Strictly Come Dancing in 2026?

Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe. It is the biggest change to the show in more than a decade: Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who had presented together since Bruce Forsyth stepped down in 2013, announced their departure in 2025. Emma Willis takes the main anchor role, Josh Widdicombe handles the Clauditorium, and Johannes Radebe — a professional on the show since 2018 — swaps his dancing shoes for a microphone as roving reporter. If you are buying for a long-standing fan, his memoir Jojo is the obvious present this year.

Who are the Strictly judges in 2026?

Shirley Ballas remains head judge, alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke. All four have books to their name, which is unusually convenient if you are gift-shopping — Anton Du Beke’s Buckingham Hotel novels and Shirley Ballas’s memoir are the two that sell best, and both are covered above.

Where can I buy official Strictly Come Dancing merchandise?

Officially licensed Strictly merchandise is narrower than most fans expect. The BBC licenses books, the annual, the wall calendar and the DVDs, and very little else — there is no official clothing line or homeware range. What fills the gap is a well-established trade in unofficial mugs, keyrings, socks and cards from small British printers, and the best-reviewed of those are in the merchandise section above. Our rule of thumb: buy the annual, calendar and books officially, and treat the mugs and stocking fillers as the fun, unofficial extras.

What is the best Strictly gift for under £10?

Several, and they are some of the best-reviewed things on this page. Anton’s Truly Madly Strictly on DVD is 4.7 stars and under £3.50; the Christmas card is 4.8 stars at £3.95; the novelty dancing socks are £9.99; and the ‘Keep Calm and Watch Strictly’ keyring is under a fiver. For a single present that still feels substantial, last year’s official annual at around £7.50 is very hard to beat.

When should I buy Strictly gifts for Christmas?

September and October. The official annual and the wall calendar are printed in fixed runs and both reliably tighten up from late November — the calendar in particular tends to be either out of stock or marked up by December. The books and DVDs are steadier, but the cheap DVD stock is largely third-party marketplace sellers, so the £3 copies go first. Buying while the series is still in its early weeks also means you can pick something that matches whichever couple your fan has adopted.

What about a disco glitter ball?

It is the one piece of Strictly-adjacent kit that works all year. A 20cm mirror ball costs about £10, needs nothing but a hook, and looks properly festive in a window with a low winter sun on it. Pair it with a mug or the annual and you have a present that looks considered rather than last-minute.

More from Christmas Countdown

• Our full Christmas gift guide — every category, refreshed for this year
• Personalised gifts for Christmas — if the mug idea appeals but you want it named
• Gifts for Top Gear fans and car lovers — the same treatment, for a different Saturday night
• What to give a Doctor Who fan
• The Christmas to-do lists — our month-by-month planning hub