The BBC’s ballroom behemoth, Strictly Come Dancing, has been catapulted into a new era. The show has completed 20 laps around the sun as Britain’s loveliest comfort watch, delivering high kicks, glittery outfits and tears of joy for two glorious decades. Each year, the show combines old-fashioned showbiz glamour with classic British silliness. It’s given us Ed Balls grinding to“Gangnam Style”. Russell Grant being shot out of a cannon. Ann Widdecombe getting dragged across the dancefloor like a broken suitcase. And there have been trailblazing moments – take the show’s first deaf contestant, Rose Ayling-Ellis, and her Bafta-winning silent dance. Now, though, the show’s wholesomeness has been tarnished by accusations of bullying and abusive behaviour, forcing the BBC to apologise and fire two professional dancers from the cast. It’s left us all wondering: how will the show go on?
In response to the scandals surrounding Giovanni Pernice and Graziano di Prima, the BBC has introduced a set of duty-of-care measures ahead of the new series. Chaperones will now be present in rehearsal rooms, while two welfare specialists have joined the production team, with the rest of the crew receiving extra training. Though most of us watching at home will never be privy to the inner workings of the new system, this year’s batch of 15 celebrities shed some light on the changes when I meet with them at the Strictly studios a couple of weeks ahead of opening night. They’ve already been in training for the launch show. Among them is former X Factor singer Shayne Ward, sitting across from me at a round table decorated with a giant glitterball centrepiece.
