Bullying? Chaperones? Don’t mention it! Everything seems shiny and happy in Strictlyland as the new series kicks off
: BBC
Strictly Come Dancing is back and Chris McCausland is already the winner, if we’re judging it on good gags. After contestant Dr Punam Krishan was introduced in the studio, McCausland deadpanned: “None of us can believe that we’ve managed to get in the same room as a GP.”
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly responded in their respective presenting styles: Claudia burst out laughing, while Tess set her grin a little harder and acted as if she hadn’t heard him. Tess’s reaction rather fit the tone of this launch show for the 20th anniversary series, which was pretending that everything is fine.
The bullying scandal, which is currently the subject of a serious investigation by BBC bosses? The abrupt departure of two of the show’s most popular professional dancers, Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima? The fact that only six female celebrities have been persuaded to sign up, and that chaperones are now stationed in every rehearsal room? Not a mention. Instead, we are led to believe that everything is shiny and happy in Strictlyland.
: BBC
Mind you, Strictly has always dealt in a level of artifice. Take, for example, the pro dancers’ reactions when they meet their celebrity partners for the first time, which verge on delirium. Nobody could feasibly be this ecstatic to find out they’re being paired with an actor from EastEnders or the man from the Go Compare adverts, however nice they may be. The only pro not joining in with the hysteria was Gorka, who finds himself paired with the little-known Dr Punam and clearly thinks their chances of picking up the glitterball trophy are slim to nil.
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The emphasis was firmly on fun, perhaps a response to criticism that the show had become too competitive and highly-pressured. The opening numbertaking place aboard a bus with a ‘Brucie’ numberplatewouldn’t have looked out of place on CBeebies. The launch show is always a drawn-out business, an episode we have to get through before the real competition gets under way. But there were some nice moments. Amy Dowden is back as a professional after undergoing treatment for cancer, and was given a starring role in one of the group dances. Vito and Ellie, last year’s winners, performed for us again, demonstrating that at the least one of the pairs from last year’s series still gets on and isn’t communicating solely via representatives from Schillings and Carter Ruck.
: BBC
And doesn’t the world just feel a better place for having Johannes in it? He’s paired with Montell Douglas (Fire from Gladiators). “I don’t think there’s a person on this earth who doesn’t want to be partnered with Jojo,” she said, and I think she’s right.
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