Strictly Come Dancing is set to return to our screens tonight with 15 celebrities taking part in the BBC dance competition
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell won Strictly Come Dancing last year(Image: PA)
Strictly Come Dancing is poised to make its comeback with a fresh series featuring 15 celebrities stepping onto the dance floor for the very first time this evening.
Gladiators legend Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Love Island’s Dani Dyer, Alex Kingston and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink were amongst the initial names revealed for this year’s line-up.
The group will be completed by EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, George Clarke, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK performer La Voix, Chris Robshaw and model Ellie Goldstein alongside controversial Apprentice star Thomas Skinner, Vicky Pattison, Neighbours’ Stefan Dennis and Ross King.
Ex-footballer Karen Carney and Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope round off the confirmed celebrities, with Cope stepping in after Kristian Nairn was forced to pull out due to medical reasons.
The celebrities who are set to take part in Strictly Come Dancing 2025(Image: Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA Wire)
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The new contestants will be hoping to emulate the success of Tasha Ghouri, Sarah Hadland and JB Gill, who reached the finale last year, whilst Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell claimed the glitterball trophy, creating history in the process, reports Wales Online.
In recent times, Strictly has found itself at the centre of multiple controversies, resulting in three significant modifications last year following allegations against Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, who were subsequently removed from the professional roster.
A further controversy emerged when Wynne Evans was excluded from the live tour after making “inappropriate” remarks for which he subsequently issued an apology.
Following worries raised regarding the handling of participants during the 2023 series, and allegations from Amanda Abbington concerning Giovanni Pernice, which he refuted, a BBC inquiry resulted in three significant modifications to enhance welfare support.
Giovanni Pernice is no longer a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing(Image: PA)
Graziano Di Prima had also faced accusations of “kicking” Zara McDermott during practice sessions, for which he subsequently issued an apology.
A prior BBC statement declared: “The BBC is today announcing additional steps to strengthen welfare and support on Strictly Come Dancing.
“Concerns that have arisen in recent months have been fundamentally about training and rehearsals. The actions we announce today are designed to address that.”
The three modifications included ensuring a team member would be present during training room practice sessions at all times.
Strictly Come Dancing judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke(Image: PA)
A celebrity welfare producer and a professional dancer welfare producer were also brought in, and lastly, the BBC pledged to provide additional training for the production team and crew.
Kate Phillips, BBC’s Director of Unscripted, commented at the time: “Whilst we know our shows have been positive experiences for the vast majority of those who have taken part, if issues are raised with us, or we’re made aware of inappropriate behaviour, we will always take that seriously and act.
“Concerns that have arisen have been fundamentally related to training and rehearsals. The decisive steps we have taken and are announced today, act to further strengthen the welfare and support in place for everyone involved with this production.”
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron)
This marks the second year that the three modifications have been implemented, and now the BBC has introduced another significant alteration for the very first time.
Rather than casting votes through telephone lines to back celebrities in the contest, supporters will only be able to vote via the internet.
The BBC revealed in a statement that the previous system was “outdated and expensive to run”.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman hosting Strictly Come Dancing(Image: BBC)
It continued: “Online voting has become the go-to choice for most viewers. In fact, the overwhelming majority of votes for the last Strictly series were cast online.
“And earlier this year, BT, the company that provided these phone services for the BBC, announced it would stop offering them in early 2025.”
It added: “We know this is a change for some viewers, so we’ll be sharing clear instructions during shows like Strictly to explain how to get set up and vote.
“Thanks for reading- and keeeeeep voting!”
Strictly Come Dancing returns tonight at 6.40pm on BBC One and iPlayer
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.devonlive.com ’
