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.
So far, he says, the chaperones have been very discreet. “You can’t see them when you’re dancing but they’re always there,” he says, holding his purple Strictly-branded water bottle. “If you’ve got something on your mind or you just wanna have a chat – you have somebody there for a little bit of support. But they’re not gonna be completely on your shoulder,” he says.
All of the celebrities I speak to have a positive expectation about what’s to come. “Everything’s in place both mentally and physically to look after you," says DIY SOS‘s Nick Knowles. We’ve got physios to make sure we’re physically OK. We’ve got people to talk to if you feel bad,” he explains. “People are being listened to. From our [the celebrities’] point of view, it just feels great.” I get the sense that these are pre-planned responses, but the celebrities do seem genuinely enthused about their experience so far.
EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, who is returning to Strictly after winning the Christmas show with Nancy Xu in December, suggests the vibe feels more serious now he’s doing the real thing. “I was only here for two weeks [for the Christmas show] and it was very fun and festive and you know, it wasn’t as… heightened as the main show,” he pauses. “It’s a bit more different now, working with different people, but it’s the same gang all still here and everyone’s still great.” He says the backstage passion for the show, which he witnessed back at Christmas, hasn’t waned despite the allegations that emerged over the summer. “Everyone’s so enthusiastic. Everyone wants to be here and have fun,” he says.
There’s no denying that the standard of dancing on Strictly has spiked in recent years. When watching a semi-final these days, it’s easy to mistake an amateur for a professional (if you squint a little bit). And while judges would only award 10s on very special occasions a decade ago, in the latest series the celebrities were so skilled that the panel couldn’t resist routinely dishing out full marks.
Did this year’s celebrities feel pressure to meet those high standards? Knowles says he has undergone a six-week fitness regime but admits he is struggling with rehearsals. The day before we speak, he left a dancing session and barely had the energy to walk to the car. “I got home and basically ran a bath of cold water and put my feet in,” he laughs. “I’m just staring at the tiles on the wall. I’m just like a zombie staring into space!” He says that the show is completely occupying his mind. “My brain is entirely on what we’re doing and how to try to not look like someone’s uncle at a wedding.” Miranda star Sarah Hadland says she panic-called her ex-personal trainer when the BBC contacted her. “I hadn’t trained in three years and I literally rang the last person I was with like, ‘You’ve got to help me! I’m going on Strictly!’ And he was like, ‘I’ve moved to Yorkshire!’ So we’ve been training on FaceTime.”
Comedian Chris McCausland laughs when he says he could feel himself “seizing up” after rehearsals last night. “I went to pick something up off the floor and I gave up halfway and just left it. It’s really full on for the start of it.” McCausland, who will be the show’s first blind contestant, says the production team have been excellent in accommodating him. “I’ve never seen the show, and I can’t go back and watch it, so we’re gonna have to figure it out as we go along,” he explains. “The production crew are being really flexible. My dance partner is figuring out how to teach me and we’re winging it... that’s the best way.”
The ever-climbing standards, combined with the news of the allegations, certainly made some incoming contestants think more deeply about their answer when they got the call from the BBC. Punk rock singer Toyah Willcox says the recent events made her consider her own physical endurance. “[The accusations] have made me take what’s coming very seriously,” she says. “What’s happened this year is because everyone is 100 per cent committed to dancing. And I’ve been thinking, can I push myself beyond my own limitations? You’ve got to go beyond your own personal comfort zone and that’s always been very, very obvious. For me, it’s now or never. It’s as simple as that.”
Former Arsenal/England footballer Paul Merson says his former teammate Tony Adams forewarned him about the physical extremity of the commitment he was about to make. “Tony didn’t have a good reaction [when I told him I signed up],” says Merson. “He said it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done. He said, ‘One week you’re learning chess. Then it’s rip that up. Next week, you’re learning how to play backgammon.’ He was England captain, played in front of 100,000, and he said, ‘I never ever felt like I did before every live show, my mouth was dry.’”
Already, the celebrities seem to be sizing each other up. Merson says he’s eyed the celebrities with a natural flair for dancing. “When I got there yesterday, a group of the celebs were doing their dancing and I was blown away,” he gasps. “I was literally sitting there like, ‘I thought everybody was going to be s***.’ Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. Some of the celebrities are mind-blowing.” Oh, go on. Tell us who. He points to Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, who is a trained commercial dancer. “And Shayne. Shayne’s good!” he says. Elsewhere, opera singer Wynne Evans teases Borthwick for having an “extra six months” advantage because he’s already done the Christmas special. “It’s like he’s been in training a lot longer than the rest of us. I can’t let it go!” he jokes. “You’re not gonna let it go!” replies Borthwick.
The celebrities are clearly buzzing from rehearsing their opening number. But, right now, it’s baby steps – they’re still laying down the foundations. Hadland tells me about practicing walking down the iconic Strictly stairs, which happens at the beginning of every show as the voice of Alan Dedicoat announces the participants’ names. “That was definitely a bit of an out of body experience,” giggles Hadland. “You hear, ‘Da da da, here’s Sarah Hadland!’ And you’re like ‘Oh my God, it’s actually happening.’” Montell Douglas, aka Fire from the recent Gladiators reboot, says she’s been haunted by the show’s logo since rehearsals began. “All I’m seeing is glitterballs everywhere,” she laughs, pointing at the shimmering orb between us. “I’m having nightmares about glitterballs already. Dreams that are turning into nightmares. It’s definitely making me shiny-eyed, that’s for sure.”
Perhaps Strictly’s sparkle will remain intact, after all.
‘Strictly Come Dancing’ continues on BBC One on Saturday 21 September
