Strictly Come Dancing may face fix claims due to two of their 2023 contestants – Angela Scanlon and Layton Williams – having previous dance experience.
Irish TV presenter Scanlon, 39, was announced as the sixth star to be joining the popular dancing series this year on Monday morning.
Back in 2001, Scanlon danced with the O’Shea Irish Dance Company, performing all over the world with the group.
Irish dance is quite different to the Latin and ballroom performances the star will have to do on Strictly, with Scanlon saying after she was announced as a participant: “I’ve never done any of these dances [Latin and ballroom] in my life, bar a drunken jive at a family wedding.
“So, it certainly feels like there is room to learn and to really push myself.”
The star, who has two children with husband Roy Horgan, added: “Look, I’m not particularly fit. I’ve no idea how my pelvic floor is going to react to that level of jumping!”
Another signing that may ruffle some feathers is West End performer Williams, 28.
He has starred in hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, and began his career aged 12 in the West End production of Billy Elliot – about a young boy’s dream of becoming a ballet star.
He is also an alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where former Strictly contestants Pixie Lott and Kelly Brook also studied.
A Strictly insider source hit back at the fact both contestants have prior experience in dance, telling the Standard: “There is no rule that celebrities cannot have dance experience before taking part and it would be near impossible to find a cast of 15 celebrities who have no previous dance experience as many people in the entertainment industry go to stage school.
“They have never been trained in Ballroom or Latin and have not tried to hide their dancing experience, but it is not remotely similar to what they will be required to learn for the show.”
Both stars and Strictly have been contacted for comment.
It comes as BBC Asian Network’s Breakfast Show host Nikita Kanda and Waterloo Road actor Adam Thomas were confirmed as joining the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 line-up on Tuesday.
Radio presenter Kanda, who has also fronted The One Show and interviewed stars from Bridgerton actress Kate Sharma to pop star Nick Jonas, said she “can’t believe” she will be starring in Strictly.
Announcing the news on her Tuesday morning radio show, she said: “I’m literally shaking, I can’t believe this. I’ve grown up watching this show every single year, glued to the TV like many of you at home.
“This has been the biggest secret ever, it’s been so hard to keep this in and today I feel relieved, I’ve finally let this out and [I’m] sharing this moment with you.
Dance lessons are on the curriculum for Waterloo Road's Adam Thomas he's ready to be schooled in the world of #Strictly! 🕺🏻https://t.co/XmoYvSHB5o @adamthomas21 pic.twitter.com/seh8gwYYI1
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) August 8, 2023
“I just can’t wait for the glitz, the glamour, the hair, the make-up, the outfits, and even to meet those judges.
“Who would have thought all those years of me raving it up on the dancefloor, at those weddings and those nights out and parties, those moves are making it to the Strictly ballroom stage on BBC One.”
Kanda added that she is excited to get her “dancing shoes on” as she takes part in the “most challenging and exciting moment of my life”.
She is the ninth contestant confirmed for the upcoming series of the dancing competition, after Thomas, Scanlon, Williams plus actress Amanda Abbington, journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, comedian Eddie Kadi and former Love Island star Zara McDermott.
British actor and TV presenter Thomas was also confirmed on Tuesday to appear on Strictly this year.
The 34-year-old, who played Adam Barton in soap Emmerdale and most recently reprised his role as Donte Charles in BBC One’s drama Waterloo Road, appeared in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here in 2016 and went on to co-host the spin-off show I’m A Celebrity: Extra Camp.
Appearing on Hits Radio Breakfast Show to reveal he will be hitting the Strictly dancefloor, Thomas said: “I am so excited to be joining the cast of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. I’ve been such a big fan of the show for years, I can’t believe I’m actually doing it.
“I can’t dance to save my life but I’m buzzing to learn and have a good laugh with my pro. Get me on that dancefloor… I can’t wait.”
