To think the Strictly celebrity line up is absolutely dire this year?

[KimberleyClark]

I’ve heard of 3 out of the 15 “celebrities”. If this is the best they can come up with then the show must be on its last legs. I think the brand must have been fatally damaged by the business with Giovanni and Graziano.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2025/strictly-come-dancing-2025-celebrity-contestants-confirmed

Me too!

Every year since the show became popular there has been comments about the line up being rubbish and I'm usually a bit 🙄 about them as there's usually a couple of recognisable names/faces. But this is the first year I've ever thought "is this it?".

Also the EastEnders lady (don't watch it so don't know her name) has admitted she's been doing dance classes this year and the new bloke was in the West End production of Billy Elliott. So it feels a bit ringer heavy too.

I'll still watch it and I'm sure will still enjoy it, if only for the nostalgia of seeing Paul Robinson from Neighbours again. But I certainly don't have the usual excitement towards a new series.

@KimberleyClark I completely agree. The calibre of celebrities has gone down for sure but it was never A listers to start with. For me it’s more about the overall show. Personally I stopped watching it weekly when Bruce left. The original judges etc. I love watching the repeats from 10 years ago. I don’t know I think it has had its time tbh.

Other than the glorious Alex Kingston and Chris Robshaw, I don’t actually know who any of those “celebrities “ are 🤣

I got so excited when I heard George Clarke was doing it as all I thought was the lovely architect who does renovation shows on Channel 4.

Turns out it's some bloody YouTuber with the same name. 😡🙄.

Fatally damaged
I don’t think so. Just because you don’t know who the contestants are doesn’t mean anything. There are so many contestants that I have gotten to know during a series. Hamza, Jill Halfpenny, Abby Clancy, Ore Oduba - I didn’t know who they were and they were all fabulous. I watch for the journey whether they are good, bad, experienced or not. I don’t know who you expect. If you knew everyone another demographic wouldn’t. If you want to switch off, go ahead.

i agree, it is about the same as usual

I'm going to skip it this year. The only one I recognise is the obligatory member of the Eastenders cast. And I know I would find the presence of a drag performer really infuriating.

But mainly, I'm put off by the relentless performative right-think that feels like a stone around the programme's neck. Every week there seems to be some story about a participant's misdemeanour and how sorry they are. It just feels so sanitised - as if it was primarily about being a righteous human being and not about learning to dance.

First ever series I won't be watching...I can't bear drag, and I just know they're going to get disproportionate coverage. I expect he'll be paired with Johannes, who will be encouraged to dance in heels again, and we'll all be expected to fawn over their brilliance. Not for me!
Wistful for the days of Aljaz in a tail suit and Abby Clancy in a beautiful ball gown...

I actually don’t mind strictly on the odd Saturday evening in! However I am going to struggle to watch Vicky Patterson - I can’t stand her!!

Slightly better than I anticipated, I recognised 4 of them

I’ve heard of 6 of them. I won’t watch it as it’s just the same every year now. Can’t stand Tess Daleys fake accent and the way the couples act like they are life long soul mates when they have known each other for about 2 months. The costumes are nice though.

I think they need to shake up the format, mainly get rid of Teas Daley, she’s never been good and never gets better! The celebs, some nostalgia there for me as a 50 year old woman, but it’s unlikely that the more popular celebrities would have that much time in their schedule to commit. Randomly that bloke from The Apprentice, who used to make my teeth itch when he spoke about being a ‘pilla’ salesman (pillows to those who don’t have a Babal fish) is on it, he was on tv before Covid ….

i find it crazy how they are so over excited about their partners!

Like most reality shows, they screen them long past their watch-by dates. But, some people love them. 🤷‍♀️

i know a few. the bloke from the apprentice (that I don't watch) because he pops up on things like pointless.

Until it went BOSH!

We’ll be watching as DD10 loves it. When she saw Paul Merson on soccer Saturday the other day she was very confused as she only knew him from strictly and had no idea he had another career. For her it could be 15 people off the street but she still loves the showiness of it all. She’s already planning a final episode watch party with her best friend! So we’re all in - I just don’t bother with the first show where they pair up as it’s the height of cringe and goes on forever.

I was excited when Harry and Alex were.announced, but it went downhill from there. Even more so, now that Kristian Nairn has withdrawn.

No former pop band member or comedian, which is unusual. Instead, we have a couple of YouTuber/Tiktokers and former reality show contestants, so at least the younger audience will know who they are, but I find that they stay longer than they should because of their heavy online presence.

It was a matter of time before the BBC were going to have a drag contestant on the main show, so I'm not surprised La Voix was announced. I've only seen La Voix on Pointless and I didn't mind her then. She is also a very good singer. I wonder how much we'll see of La Voix vs Chris Dennis. If he/she alternates between the two for performances, it seems like they'd have an advantage of choosing which part to dance.

Strictly, I find is getting more pantomimey every year, and we're seeing more contemporary music video type choreography rather than ballroom or Latin in the group dances. The Venga Bus/ 90s Euro dance mix for the launch show last year was the most embarrassing pile of shite I've seen on Strictly.

I'll end up watching the show every week though, and hopefully just enjoy it for the light hearted entertainment that its meant to be, counting down the weeks till Christmas!

It's not just that I don;t know many of them, but also that again it is male heavy, only 6 women out of 15 contestants, I don;t blame women for not wanting to take part after all the scandals though.

i imagine it is hard to get anyone well known because all the publicity is very exposing, the press are very intrusive and appearing on the programme can destroy careers ( arguable deservedly so in some cases ) so the pool of contestants to choose from is going to be largely has beens or wannabes who have nothing to lose.

I'm sure I'll end up watching it though - it's become a habit, and there is nothing else on Tv on a saturday. But I don't think I'll be that bothered this year if I miss the odd episode.

I don;t blame women for not wanting to take part after all the scandals though

Thats a really good point. I bet it was hard to scare up the women they did manage to recruit.

I know 6: Alex, Stefan, La Voix, Dani, Vicky, Harry as Nitro

I don't know: George, Ellie, Lewis

I should know: Chris, Jimmy, Karen but do not follow sport

I forgot entirely: Balvinder, Thomas, Ross - and of those I only knew of Ross

The cast is similar to past few years.
All household names have done it or declined by now.
Look at the cast list for the Traitors as a comparison. Many on there that would not want to do Strictly.

It will be fine. It is still an enjoyable entertainment show with high ratings.

I don’t watch much just if it’s on. I’m in my 40s don’t use instagram or TikTok so don’t know people that are famous that way.

But why shouldn’t there be people on who are well known due to TikTok or Instagram be on? It’s like previous generations complaining about pop stars being on talk shows or similar because they sing “that modern rubbish”.

I love Strictly but the drag queen means I probably won’t watch this year. I’m not down for woman face.

George Clarke appeals to a younger audience - he has over 2 million followers on social media. I didn't know who he was but DS and his gf knew. Just a different type of fame.

I’m really surprised there’s so few women again this year. Last year it made sense they couldn’t get many female contestants, all the bullying scandals etc but after one year with the chaperones in training and much more positive experiences for female contestants, I would have thought they wouldn’t struggle to get women to sign up.

Given how few female contestants they’ve got, I’m not surprised they’ve booked a drag queen to try to pretend they’ve got a more balanced line up.

The cynic in me thinks if any woman in the first 2 or 3 dance offs will be saved over a male contestant even if he’s the better dancer to avoid it being all male too early on.