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As I watched this year’s Strictly Come Dancing cast sashay down the glitzy staircase for the first time, I was disappointed. No, not because the morale felt slightly off post-scandal. I’m unimpressed because, for the first time in four years, the show is without any same-sex pairings – and we’re totally missing out.
Same-sex partnerships on Strictly have been extremely important for fairly reflecting LGBT+ lives on screen – especially on primetime family telly. But even if you put aside the representation element, their dances have made for some of the most spectacular choreography and versatile partner dynamics that we’ve seen on the show. Since same-sex couples aren’t limited to the same constraints that come with traditional heterosexual pairings, years-old ballroom styles can be turned on their head, adding more scope for different types of lifts, tricks and partner-work. It’s a huge shame we won’t get to see any this year.
Just take Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin’s eye-popping routines performed in last year’s series. For the final, they delivered an Argentine tango to Loreen’s “Tattoo” that was both tender and fizzing with chemistry, with Kuzmin lifting Williams over his shoulders into a dramatic backbend. For their Charleston to “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, in which they both wore identical Twenties-style suits, they were a cheeky double act as they performed knee-slides across the floor. Williams was also the first male celebrity contestant to wear a skirt and heels on the show, when dancing a Viennese waltz to “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”, in character as Grease’s Rizzo. Their partnership, like other same-sex couplings who came before, completely pushed the boundaries of what we know as traditional ballroom choreography.
When Strictly foxtrotted onto our screens 20 years ago, the idea of same-sex pairings was frowned upon. Even in 2018, celebrity contestant Dr Ranj Singh, who is gay, requested a male partner but was flatly turned down by the BBC. In 2019, there was a same-sex professional dance that received 200 complaints from offended viewers. And while Strictly is easily one of the BBC’s campest shows, which pulls heavily from queer culture, the broadcaster held back when it actually came down to introducing same-sex couplings.
There have been further hurdles: in the competitive dancing world, some dance purists have been reticent about same-sex pairings. In 2014 – the year same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales – the British Dance Council attempted to define a “pair” as “one man and one lady” and tried to ban same-sex couples from ballroom dance competitions. That’s why this year’s Strictly lineup feels like a step backwards.
Perhaps none of this year’s celebrity contestants requested a partner of the same sex, since it is usually their choice (rather than the producers’). In which case, maybe this absence couldn’t be avoided. Either way, I know that this year’s dances will be seriously lacking in one area. Here’s hoping that our new set of boy-girl couples can serve up excitement elsewhere.
