Strictly Come Dancing fans furious with 'absolutely ridiculous' Ashley Roberts signing
Ashley Roberts has felt the wrath of Strictly Come Dancing fans who have lashed out at her signing, claiming her dance training makes her unfair competition.
Roberts, 36, was announced as the ninth celebrity for this year’s BBC ballroom show after Chris Evans broke the news on BBC Radio 2.
The former Pussycat Doll said she is “excited” about making her Strictly debut, telling Evans “the Latin and Ballroom world is foreign to me”.
But despite claiming to have no experience in the field, fans of the show were unconvinced and said her involvement was a “step too far”.
🎵 When I grow up I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be on #Strictly 🎵 - what Ashley Roberts was (probably) singing before joining our 2018 line-up, right @ImAshleyRoberts? 😉https://t.co/wWTO1H0ytY pic.twitter.com/ZHvS5TVWB7
— BBC Strictly✨ (@bbcstrictly) August 17, 2018
One tweeted: “Ashley Roberts. Trained dancer. Judged on a dancing show on Sky One. Step too far #scd2018.”
Another wrote: “I love Ashley Roberts, she’s my fave out of all of the announced celebs. However she’s got an unfair advantage because she’s a trained dancer!”
Ashley Roberts the dancer/choreographer doing Strictly is absolutely RIDICULOUS. May as well resurrect Fred Astaire and stick him in the competition 🙄#StrictlyComeDancing2018 #Strictly2018 #ashleyroberts
— Sophia (@SophiaxxBearman) August 17, 2018
lmao Ashley Roberts being on strictly this year??? She’s a trained dancer like she was in the pussycat dolls as a dancer she didn’t even sing🤦🏻♀️
— J✨ (@jess___foster) August 17, 2018
Trained dancer Ashley Roberts doing Strictly? Not fair.
— Hills of Arran (@hillsofarran) August 17, 2018
Can’t believe @bbcstrictly have Ashley Roberts on as a celebrity contestant. No offence to her but she is a professional dancer !!! What an absolute joke 😂
— Nadia (@doddy107) August 17, 2018
Ashley Roberts, the professional dancer, is competing on this year's #scd That's a firm no from me @bbc pic.twitter.com/Cd2hEyihAH
— Collie (@CollieSmash) August 17, 2018
Of all the "Oh, they're a professional dancer" whinging, Ashley Roberts is at the top. Can they at least describe her AS a dancer as opposed to a singer and be honest about it? She was in a professional DANCE TROUPE! #PussycatDolls She will be amazing to watch, mind.
— Roxie Cooper (@toodletinkbaby) August 17, 2018
Roberts took a swipe at Evans on Friday morning after he prematurely announced her involvement ahead of schedule.
The announcement was scheduled for after 8am with Roberts waking up early to make her way into the studio for the big reveal, but Evans let the cat out of the bag with his clues.
Taking aim at Evans she tweeted: “En route to @achrisevans Heard ya mentioned my name already. Why did I have to get up so early!?!”
TV personality Katie Piper was the first name to be announced on BBC Breakfast on Monday.
Former Steps singer Faye Tozer and Red Dwarf actor Danny John-Jules were then unveiled on The One Show the following evening.
YouTube vlogger Joe Sugg was announced on the Radio One Breakfast Show followed by Capital FM DJ Vick Hope, cricketer Graeme Swann, This Morning's Dr Ranj Singh and documentary star Stacey Dooley.
The contestants for series 16 are all disguised under cheesy code names, as revealed by hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on the official Twitter yesterday.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One later this year