I’m a Strictly superfan – here’s why the line-up is better than you think

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and people yelling ‘who’ every time Strictly Come Dancing announces any contestant who’s competing on the show.

Although Strictly always promises celebrities, its format for choosing has always been the usual daytime TV presenters and soap stars with a few wildcards thrown in, at least that’s how it’s been since I began tuning in back in 2014. Yet year after year, it appears that fans go in suddenly expecting the BBC to have signed up Angelina Jolie or netted Taylor Swift.

I think when you look at a Strictly line-up, instead of expecting A-listers, you always have to think whether they’re a good name when compared to some of the show’s other stars, and for the most part, I think the BBC have actually managed to get a good line-up.

The good

I was incredibly excited on the first day when it was confirmed that Doctor Who icon Alex Kingston had agreed to the show following rave reviews from her friend, and last year’s finalist, Sarah Hadland. Away from Professor River Song, Alex is an incredibly well established actress on both sides of the pond with roles in ER, Arrow and A Discovery of Witches. For me, I think she’s the best signing of the year.

We’ve also finally got a Game of Thrones star, with Kristian Nairn, who played fan favourite character Hodor on the epic fantasy series. While I don’t know how far he’ll get, it’s clear that the 49-year-old actor will fully throw himself in. As will Gladiators star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who loved his stint on the Christmas show so much, he’s signed on for the main series.

And this is part of Strictly’s appeal, no one really wants to watch people who hate dancing and everything Strictly stands for mincing their way through a Charleston, we want to see stars who embrace the glitter and campness and aren’t afraid to not be taken seriously as they waltz around the dancefloor.

Another high point from the casting is Strictly’s ongoing representation of the world around us. 23 series in, and we’re still celebrating major firsts from the BBC staple, with La Voix being the first drag queen to compete on a full series (Christmas viewers were treated to Tayce last year), while Ellie Goldstein will make history as the first contestant with Down syndrome, and she’s already generated plenty of love online.

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And another hidden bonus from this year’s line-up is that it’s the least BBC-centric one in years. In recent years, many naysayers have claimed the talent booker simply went down to the BBC canteen and picked out whoever was there, and sometimes it was hard to disagree. Of course, we still have the perennial EastEnders representative as well as Harry and Karen Carney who both work for the corporation.

But although stars like Alex and Kristian may have acted on some of the BBC’s biggest shows, they’re not related to the organisation and aren’t currently in their shows. And while Thomas Skinner and La Voix might have been introduced to new audiences from competing on BBC shows, they also have their own identity away from the Beeb.

The bad

You might have seen Thomas Skinner’s name in the above paragraph, and that’s where I’ll start when it comes to admitting that although I do like this line-up, it’s not perfect. Putting the political views aside, it’s incredibly hard to justify him on the show. Yes, Thomas has created a bit of a niche away from The Apprentice, but fundamentally, he’s just a bloke off The Apprentice.

Now I liked Thomas when he was on the show, his enthusiasm for every single task and chivalry, but even then I never would have thought he was the kind of person who should be signed for Strictly. Celebrity Big Brother, perhaps.

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There’s also a lot of reality television stars on, making up about a third of the line-up. I remember years ago, Craig Revel Horwood dismissed the idea of Gemma Collins as not the “right calibre”, but it does feel that rule is now out. I’m not entirely snobbish on the idea of reality TV stars on Strictly, so long as they’ve done things outside of the show and are limited.

Another downside is some of what we’re lacking. Almost as sure as rain is to come, you can count on Strictly having some of pop star, whether solo or from a group, and normally they’re one of the best performers of the series, think Aston Merrygold from JLS or Faye Tozer from Steps. But this year, we’ve got no representatives.

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We’re also missing comedians. Fresh off Chris McCausland’s win, we’ve gotten no one, which is a shame given the amount of talent around the UK and I always enjoy their humorous asides when they’re with Claudia in the Clauditorium.

Conclusion

Last year, I remember a lot of people screeching ‘who’ in the offices when names were announced, while this year, those same people were pleasantly surprised with plenty of the celebrities as they were confirmed.

I don’t think this line-up is perfect, but I would say it’s a lot better than last year’s line-up, and some of the names involved would make it better than other recent line-ups as well. There are certainly some names that had been rumoured who I would have loved to have seen signed, looking particularly at you Stacey Solomon and Tom Parker-Bowles, but there’s always next year.

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Last year’s line-up could almost be excused due to the amount of scandals enveloping the beloved show, and while this year might still be showing those scars, it does also reveal a programme that is recovering from its bad publicity. If things go off without a hitch, next year’s line-up might attract the level of talent we were used to in the show’s heyday.