{"id":2037892,"date":"2025-09-20T22:28:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T22:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2037892"},"modified":"2025-09-20T22:28:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T22:28:20","slug":"could-the-bbc-have-done-a-worse-job-calming-the-shows-troubled-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/could-the-bbc-have-done-a-worse-job-calming-the-shows-troubled-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Could the BBC have done a worse job calming the show\u2019s troubled waters?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Has Strictly Come Dancing lost its footing? The BBC\u2019s feel-good juggernaut has certainly had a few stumbles over recent years \u2013 from bullying allegations to those \u201cgrope compare\u201d memes and claims of cocaine use. So for its 21st season, the producers have done their best to put the series back on the straight and narrow\u2026 by casting divisive former Apprentice contestant Thomas \u201cBosh\u201d Skinner as one of the celebrity dancers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The sort of c-lister the internet was born to hate, Skinner has posed in a Maga hat and attended a Cotswolds barbecue hosted by US vice-president JD Vance. Bish, bash, bosh \u2013 could the BBC have done a worse job restoring calm to Strictly\u2019s troubled waters?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That remains to be seen, but the powers that be will be relieved launch night passed without any of the predicted froideur on the dance floor and instead delivered lots of the infectious positivity that is the franchise\u2019s signature. Dramatic, attention-grabbing and slick as anything \u00a0\u2013 and that was just co-host Claudia Winkleman\u2019s fringe during a funny-ish opening skit featuring 2024 winner, comedian Chris McCausland.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race UK finalist La Voix dances with partner Alja&amp;zcaron; \u0160korjanec &#8211; BBC\/Guy Levy\/BBC\/Guy Levy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The gag was that McCausland was refusing to hand back the Glitterball Trophy and had locked it in a safe \u2013 until judge Craig Revel Horwood was summoned to terrify Chris with one of his dreadful poems. It was a fun bit and the upbeat tone carried on through the show \u2013 which alas also suffered from that familiar launch night woe of having far too much padding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Talk about stretching things out. A sequence introducing two new pro dancers featured the sort of glossy underwater camerawork you usually only encounter when David Attenborough is narrating a porpoise mating ritual. There was also a performance by Jessie J of her forgettable new single, while the segments in which the contestants meet their pro dancers were split into three and hammed up for all they were worth. Screams, tears, deep exhalations of breath \u2013 it was like Keir Starmer preparing to meet Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Through it all, the celebs were encouraged to talk about what a great time they were having. Presumably hoping to avoid the Amanda Abbington-Giovanni Pernice rift of several seasons past, they seemed to have been chosen on the basis of their boundless enthusiasm and top drawer mateyness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Actress and Love Island winner Dani Dyer never stopped smiling. Gladiator and Olympic athlete Harry Aikines-Aryeetey compared meeting his pro partner to a wedding where you didn\u2019t know who the bride was. Ex-footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink reminded us over and over that he was doing Strictly for his daughters, and Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis had a heartwarming story about wanting to learn to dance so that he could take his beloved wife for a twirl. Aah.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"This year's Strictly pairings have been revealed\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"600\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/M8cJ6JexzPu5ShfIXwiudw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYwMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_telegraph_258\/43d3c2c063b450df24e7f7d8a161756b\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>This year\u2019s Strictly pairings have been revealed &#8211; BBC\/Guy Levy\/BBC\/Guy Levy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hearts melted all over again as McCausland reunited with his pro-partner Dianne Buswell for one last waltz (before she was paired with fellow Australian Dennis). His advice to the class of 2025 was to \u201ctake the dancing seriously, don\u2019t take yourself too seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Thomas Skinner was one of the final contestants unveiled and was in full wide-boy mode. He admitted that he hadn\u2019t quite grasped how much sacrifice would be required. He\u2019d been under the impression he could nip down to the market in the morning, take in a West Ham game, and then arrive at the Strictly studios for a quick twirl.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI do feel like the underdog,\u201d he shrugged, looking nervous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Whether he\u2019s the underdog or pantomime villain, he and the rest of the celebs are up and running and threw some impressive moves into a first-night samba soundtracked by a mash-up of Ros\u00e9\u2019s APT and Chappell Roan\u2019s Pink Pony Club. It was a smooth ending to an impressively glossy episode &#8211; and the BBC will pray a thoroughly uncontroversial launch night will set the tone for the rest of what could be a make-or-break season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/customer\/subscribe\/01doysa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><b>Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Has Strictly Come Dancing lost its footing? The BBC\u2019s feel-good juggernaut has certainly had a few stumbles over recent years \u2013 from bullying allegations to those \u201cgrope compare\u201d memes and claims of cocaine use. So for its 21st season, the producers have done their best to put the series back on the straight and narrow\u2026 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2037893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[345759,345930,345929,376542,342428,30156],"class_list":["post-2037892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-chris-mccausland","tag-chris-robshaw","tag-craig-revel-horwood","tag-nadiya-bychkova","tag-stefan-dennis","tag-strictly-come-dancing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Could-the-BBC-have-done-a-worse-job-calming-the.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2037892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2037893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2037892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2037892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2037892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}