What time is the Strictly Come Dancing final? Start time, TV channel and how to watch

The final episode of Strictly Come Dancing will take place this weekend as the last celebrities battle it out for the crown.

Previous weeks have been disrupted by the Qatar 2022 World Cup, with the schedule being shaken up. You might be wondering when Strictly will be on this week? Fans of the dance show were not happy to see Strictly bumped for the World Cup - but last weekend, the dancing competition was moved once again from its Saturday spot for the England vs France match.

This is what you need to know about when the Strictly Come Dancing final will be making its way onto our TV screens.

When is Strictly Come Dancing next on TV?

The week 13 episode of Strictly Come Dancing, the semi-final, will be broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday 17 December at 7.05pm. The final will run until 9.35pm and it will include the result.

The episode will see the remaining couples perform for the title of Strictly Come Dancing champion. The semi-fianl took place last week and saw Will Mellor and Nancy Xu elminated after the dance-off, four couples are left in the show. These: Helen Skelton and Gorka Márquez, Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal, Fleur East and Vito Coppola, Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu.

How can you watch Strictly Come Dancing?

The Strictly final will air on BBC One/ One HD on Saturday (17 December). The final will begin at 7.05pm.

Why has Strictly Come Dancing been moved recently?

The dance show has been rescheduled recently because of the BBC’s ongoing World Cup coverage. The BBC and ITV have shared the broadcast rights to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, with each station showing roughly half the matches.

This weekend’s Strictly Come Dancing live show was moved from Saturday night because BBC One is showing the last quarter-final of the tournament. The match will see England take on France for a spot in the semi-final - England have only ever been in three World CUp semi-finals so far.

The victor of the England v France game will go on to play either Morocco, Spain, Portugal or Switzerland in the semi-final at the Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor, on Wednesday 14 December at 7pm.

The channel that the semi-final will be broadcast on has not yet been confirmed, however, BBC has the first pick of which semi-final it will broadcast. If England get through to the semi-final, then the BBC will almost certainly choose to broadcast that semi-final, leaving ITV to broadcast the second semi-final.

When will the Strictly Come Dancing final be on TV?

The Strictly Come Dancing final is currently slated to take place on the evening of Saturday 17 December. This is unlikely to be affected by World Cup coverage as the third place play off will take place on 17 December at 3pm and will have ended before the final.

The World Cup final will be broadcast on both BBC One and ITV on Sunday 18 December - it is estimated that more than 3.5 billion people watched the 2018 final around the world, and a similar number are expected to tune in this year.