Strictly’s back! Sequins, Sass and a Dash of Scandal

Autumn has officially landed, the leaves are falling, pumpkin spice is invading every beverage, and Strictly Come Dancing has waltzed back onto our screens. Yes, Saturday nights are once again devoted to sequins, spray tans, and enough glitter to keep the UK sparkling through winter.

This year’s line-up has already got people talking. The show has made strides in showcasing different kinds of contestants. We’ve noted it before with Chris McCausland, a blind comedian, who won the contest in 2024 with professional dancer Dianne Buswell. The previous year saw Rose Ayling-Ellis, a deaf actor, go all the way to winning the final and stealing the nation’s hearts. This year, La Voix is bringing drag brilliance to the ballroom, while model, actor and influencer, Ellie Goldstein, who has Down syndrome, makes history simply by stepping onto that dancefloor. It’s huge and sustained progress, however the professional line-up could use more variety in nearly every regard.

The show is not unacquainted with scandal, as already after just one week, we have an exposé of affairs, and Dani Dyer has dropped out due to injury. The show is still reckoning with its most serious issue. Graziano Di Prima was fired from the show after claims that he had assaulted television presenter Zara McDermott during rehearsals.  This news shocked fans and cast a shadow over the glitterball. Previously, Sherlock actor Amanda Abbington, who stepped away from the 2023 competition after just a few weeks, accused her professional partner Giovanni Pernice of “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying”. Pernice, who vehemently denied the allegations, was axed from the cast in June 2024 and has since been replaced. Following months of investigation, the BBC confirmed that they had upheld complaints relating to verbal bullying and harassment, but concluded that Pernice had not been physically aggressive. While the BBC has promised change, it’s a sobering reminder that even a programme built on joy and togetherness must take its duty of care seriously, especially when the ballroom spotlight is so bright.

Still, the dances themselves are irresistible, and there is far more to their origins than meets the eye. The tango, born in the bars of Buenos Aires, was once described by scandalised Europeans as “sex standing up” (no wonder it gets the judges hot under the collar). Its cousin, the Argentine tango, leans into intimacy and improvisation, which is why no two versions ever look the same. The waltz, now synonymous with grace, once caused outrage in Vienna for daring to put couples in a “close embrace”, shocking stuff in the 1800s. The foxtrot, meanwhile, may owe its name to a vaudeville entertainer named Harry Fox, who supposedly trotted across the stage in ways that inspired the smooth ballroom glide. Then there’s the samba, essentially cardio disguised as joy, blasting in from Brazil, while the cha-cha-cha was born in Cuba, cheeky, quick, and impossible to say three times fast without giggling. Watching Strictly is like travelling the globe, with every swivel, spin and shimmy stamped into your cultural passport.

I’ve seen firsthand how powerful dance can be in bringing communities together. In 2017, I studied the influence of salsa in Miami as a force of integration and acceptance for the Cuban community in America. Salsa was one success story where the style wasn’t appropriated but more accepted and integrated, becoming a shared language. Thousands flocked to ‘Little Havana’ for the dance scene but then began to learn Spanish, eat Cuban food, and mix with each other. Out of this scene, Latin artists gained mainstream recognition, even Shakira, whose global stardom owes much to Latin dance styles and sound. (Though one Cuban man confided to me, half-joking, that she had “sold out” the moment she dyed her dark hair blonde to look less Latin.) Still, salsa shows how dance transcends boundaries, educates communities, and creates bonds – for friendships, cultural exchange, and, let’s be honest, probably much more 😉.

So polish your shoes, warm up your jazz hands, and settle in. Strictly is back and it’s got more drama, more diversity, and more dancing than ever.