Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Hauer is desperate to be paired with a female partner for this year.
The 39-year-old professional dancer said that same-sex dancing is "normal" and praised the show for "opening up to it".
Karen, who has danced with Jeremy Vine, Will Young and Simon Rimmer told Daily Star Sunday: "It would be great to dance with another female this year. I’d really love that.
“It’s a beautiful thing that the show is opening up to it now. It’s not taboo anymore.
"It’s a beautiful thing to be able to show same-sex dancing. It’s normal now and that’s the way it should be.”
Katya Jones and boxer Nicola Adams were the dance competition's first same-sex couple in 2020.
Then the following year, Johannes Radebe and TV chef John Whaite were paired.
Karen said both pairings were "beautifully done".
Karen is waiting to talk to bosses in the spring to discuss her place in this year's series.
She said: "It will be my 11th year. Nothing is signed yet, but I am hoping to be back. When they ask me, it’s always an easy decision.”
The dancer is one of the longest-serving professionals on the show and she called it "the best job ever".
She said she has been lucky to work with "great people" and added that she loves watching celebrities evolve from beginners to talented dancers.
Karen was married to professional dancer Kevin Clifton but the couple split after she felt she "wasn't getting the attention she wanted from her husband".
She told The Sun that "things had got really nasty overnight" and that it took her a long time to "let go".
She said: "Obviously, other things happen, there are other factors that happened, that really hurt us both.
“But I thought... I would have never let go of it. I wouldn’t have never, never let go of it.
“I would have liked to have fought for it. It took me a year after we separated to actually let go of him.”
The pair agreed to stay civil, but Karen said she found it hard to distance herself from him.
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She also watched Kevin's romance blossom with his now girlfriend Stacey Dooley who he was partnered with in 2019.
Speaking on The Divorce Club Podcast with Samantha Baines, Karen added: “It took me a long time to cut the umbilical cord that I had connected to him.
“Because it was connected for such a long time and at a completely different level than my first marriage, because this marriage was what I was always looking for. But I learned a lot."
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