Strictly Come Dancing returned for its seventh series on 18 September 2009 on BBC One. Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly returned as presenters of the main show on BBC One, while Claudia Winkleman presented the spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli returned as judges. Series 5 winner Alesha Dixon joined the judging panel as a replacement for Arlene Phillips. Darcey Bussell served as a guest judge beginning with the quarterfinal.

Strictly Come Dancing is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of judges. The title of the show is a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing. The format has been exported to 60 other countries under the title Dancing with the Stars, licensed by BBC Worldwide, and led to a modern dance-themed spin-off Strictly Dance Fever. The Guinness World Records named Strictly as the world's most successful reality television format in 2010. The series is currently presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Bruce Forsyth co-presented the series with Daly until 2014.