Controversy amid the glitter as Strictly Come Dancing returns for its 20th year – and whether this fan will still be viewing

Strictly Come Dancing returns to our screens this weekend
-Credit: (Image: PA)


It has been a summer of scandal for TV’s sequin-studded fan favourite.

BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing has for two decades been one of the most-watched, most talked-about programmes on the small screen, with sell-out live tours following each season of the dance extravaganza. Will diehard fans be tuning in as normal, however, after the show loved by millions has been been dogged for months with stories about bullying behaviour and celebs reduced to tears by their professional partners in the rehearsal room?

Most recent headlines have been dominated by the return to the show after two years of professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec amidst claims of an altercation with a female fellow pro dancer. Earlier on, Giovanni Pernice quit the show amid an investigation into his conduct while partnered with actress Amanda Abbington – he denies any wrongdoing and a report of the case is imminent – and Graziano Di Prima was axed after a video showed him kicking celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals. His spokesperson Mark Borkowski later told BBC News: "There is never a time when kicking, or any sense of that is right, and he knows that. He knows he's made a mistake. He apologised at the time."

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All of the media hype and socials gossip have certainly cast a cloud over the run-up to what has previously been welcomed as a bright bit of Saturday night viewing for many people, including me. I have always enjoyed watching Strictly - not so avidly right at the beginning, if I’m honest, because it hadn’t got its hooks into me then – because it adds a bit of colour and fun to what can be a long run of dreary autumn nights.

While I still would not call myself a super-fan, for me, the show is the perfect entrée to Christmas, and something I’d rather not miss if I can help it. I love seeing the various celebrities taking those first Bambi-like steps onto the dance floor and then gradually being transformed into really stunning and, to my eyes, accomplished dancers.

Even the judges get in on the act when it's Halloween Week on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing
Even the judges get in on the act when it's Halloween Week on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing -Credit:BBC

The choreography and the costumes are amazing; Dave Arch and his band’s rendering of the music and songs is superb; the partnerships that develop week on week are (seemingly) heart-warming. There are the themed weeks to get excited about - I love Halloween week and, of course, the majesty of the Blackpool Tower ballroom a bit later on in the competition, when things are really starting to hot up between the dancers.

I did hear that, in the past, all the Strictly rehearsals were recorded in their entirety, mainly to support any insurance claims that might ensue if there were injuries sustained during the learning of some of the strenuous and complex routines. Now I gather there are to be chaperones in the studio.

I wonder whether that will add confidence or a layer of conspicuousness that will be off-putting to the amateur dancers while they are mastering their moves? Something certainly had to happen after all the revelations.

I don’t know quite a few of the celebrities who are starting out on their dance journey, I never do, but almost all will grow on me as the competition goes on, if the past is anything to go by. I’ll be there as the curtain goes up on Strictly 2024, on Saturday, September 14, at 7.20pm on BBC1, hoping that the format hasn’t been marred by all the shenanigans and a squeaky-clean series takes us all the way to the time we need to be putting the tinsel up.