9 June 2026
Dawn French joked she will never do Strictly Come Dancing due to fears of losing her husband.
Comedienne Dawn French
As well as “Strictly Curse” – a phenomenon where celebrities and professional dancers develop romances on the show, which leads to real-life relationship breakdowns – Dawn, who has been married to Mark Bignell since 2013, does not want to be seen as the BBC programme’s joke act.
The 68-year-old comedienne – who has been approached by Strictly Come Dancing bosses in the past – told the new issue of Yours magazine: “I don’t like all the palaver.”
She then quipped: “I don’t want to lose my marriage.”
Dawn continued: “I love dancing, but I have got a wobbly knee. I don’t want to stand in front of [judge] Craig Revel Horwood. I don’t want to wear the sequinned costumes or be shot out of a cannon because I’m the funny one.
“The sequins freak me out.”
Dawn is not shy when it comes to showing off her dance moves.
She shared: “At the end of The Vicar of Dibley, we had a wrap party, and we were allowed to choose some music. I chose Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie.
“It came on, and I started over dancing. We were a little bit drunk.”
But it did not end well.
Dawn added: “I displaced my hip. So, the fact is, Shakira, hips do lie!”
Although the entertainer is adamant she will never appear on Strictly Come Dancing, Dawn said the Latin and Ballroom dance show’s bosses could change her mind if they honoured her wish.
On an episode of her and 67-year-old comedienne Jennifer Saunders’ French + Saunders: Titting Around podcast, Dawn said: “I want the nicest dress, the most elegant other dancer, and to take it seriously, and nobody would want that.”
Jennifer has also been asked to take part, but she was put off after watching videos of celebrities rehearsing their routines.
The star said: “I would do it if it wasn’t for the background films. Oh, it’s pathetic now. ‘It’s Halloween week! Ooh, we’re slightly scared now’. Oh God.
“I’m not saying I don’t like watching it, but I have to say, being on it would make me cringe.
“We know we’d be with Anton Du Beke. We wouldn’t get Aljaz [Skorjanec] or any of the nice ones; we would be with Anton.”
She added: “We’re up to make people laugh, we’re not up to being laughed at. And that’s the big difference.
“I sort of think that’s possibly going back to our beginnings of why we went into comedy.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.femalefirst.co.uk ’
