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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Sonia Sodha

The perfect feelgood TV, did Strictly’s sparkle blind it to flaws in its format?

Graziano Di Prima holds Zara McDermott in his arms on set.
Graziano Di Prima has admitted kicking his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during a rehearsal for Strictly Come Dancing 2023. Photograph: Guy Levy/PA

Strictly Come Dancing always seemed to me like the no-brainer reality TV show from a contestant perspective. At best, it’s seriously career-enhancing; at worst, you face the prospect of dropping out after a couple of weeks adorned in sequins.

Stay in long enough and you actually learn to dance while shedding pounds, all while taking part in a show that trades in everyone having the time of their lives rather than people falling out with each other. Not a patch on sticking your head in a fishbowl of cockroaches on I’m a Celebrity…, anxiously waiting to see if your new beau will cheat on you in Love Island’s Casa Amor, or being the Faithful everyone turns on at the Traitors roundtable.

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