Strictly Come Dancing '24 Thread 1 : Who will be our celebs and Pros?

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Starting a new SCD thread for chat prior to the series as the last is about to fill.

These threads are usually helmed by @PolkadotsAndMoonbeams and I normally deputise, but I haven't seen her around in a while

This thread will discuss who has been chosen for the show, but not who has been paired with who as that's a spoiler for the first show.

This is a NO SPOILER thread

Get Ready To KEEP DANCING.

I assume they mean it has become a very different beast to what it was and is now an inside bubble of pressure, collusion and coercion to some extent to stick to the Strictly family schtick. Pantomime that has become Punch and bloody Judy. The whole Social Media and Paparazzi machine fuelling it with inside sources dropping feuds, fights, flirting and showmances, all designed to manipulate voting off/retaining slebs and keeping the show, for good or bad, in the headlines.

I am just airing my thoughts about Strictly in general, not that its current format has anything to do with the cause of two male pros' departure under a cloud.

Gio is still under investigation, and details are still vague, so I am keeping an open mind about his situation.

I am sad about Graziano's news because he seemed like a caring pro, and it looked like he and Zara had a good rapport. Apparently not.

Wow. Beautifully and expressively written! Yes, this is what I meant. But you did it better!

Sadly, Zara is the one vilified for Graziano's behaviour.

Yes, this is after all a generic Strictly thread, filled with today’s news but soon to be continued with the new celebs and pros as they get announced. I think the shocking bit for me is the suddenness of it. It seemed that Gio’s leaving was after so much speculation, it felt like months worth. And Graziano (for me) just seemed like ‘hey I’ve been sacked, I’m very bad, crack on with the speculation’. Very sudden.

Asked why Zara didn’t speak out before, an insider said: “Zara was too scared to say anything about what she had encountered.
“She was in a difficult position with nowhere to turn.
“There was also an element of coercion too.”

The problem is that people don't read. She didn't complain and she stuck to the script.
Others brought it up. She now has a lawyer as presumably she now knows they have seen what she endured and no one should be abused in the workplace.
I should know, I was told to fuck off by a kid last week
I don't vilify her at all. I feel very sorry for her.

She has been trolled again as haters gonna hate, she was a reality TV contestant and with Sam, is viewed to manipulate the press herself. Add to that the big disconnect with what she said publicly means that those with an axe to grind will slate her. Robert Webb, Danny Jules-John (who was said to have given his pro an awful time) Will Young - all three were resolute in not coming back to the final. I would imagine the pressure to come back and make nice is enormous.

Anyway, back to speculation of the next crop of potential victims contestants!

We are due 8 females, 7 males

       GK Barry - 25 - Social Media Influencer
       Hannah Fry - 40 - academic, author, presenter
       Dame Laura Kenny - 32 - Retired Cyclist
       Shini Muthukrishnan - 23 - <span class="italic">Blue Peter</span> Presenter
       Mollie Pearce - 22 - <span class="italic">The Traitors</span> Contestant and Model
       Nicola Roberts - 38 - <span class="italic">Girls Aloud</span> pop star
       Toyah Willcox - 66 - Singer
       Helen Worth - 73 - <span class="italic">Coronation Street</span> Actress

       Harry Aikines-Aryeetey - 36 - Sprinter and <span class="italic">Gladiators</span> Star (Nitro)
       Jamie Borthwick - 30 - Eastenders signing and won Xmas Strictly
       Tommy Fury - 25 - Boxer and Former <span class="italic">Love Island</span> Contestant
       Chris McCausland - 47 - Stand-Up Comedian
       Dean McCullough - 32 - <span class="italic">Radio 1</span> Presenter/same sex partnership(?)
       Andrew Ridgeley - 61 - Former <span class="italic">Wham</span> pop star
       Martin Roberts - 61 - <span class="italic">Homes Under the Hammer</span> Presenter

And if you are a celebrity still on the way ‘up’ as it were (not just Zara, but any of the strictly celebs), there must be huge pressure to maintain that trajectory, what would someone like her do if celebrity life did not work out because she ‘made a fuss’ and was ‘a bit pathetic’? It would be very difficult to get a normal job after that.

So the pressure to put up and shut up must be huge. I bet her agent has lots of stories of those who have sunk back into obscurity.

Ooh.

HANNAH FRY 😍

Toyah Willcox would be brilliant!

Thanks. Yeah, I get you.

I’m surprised by how many of these speculated celebs I’ve heard of! I don’t know many of the men but I know all but one of the women.

Apparently, Toyah said she needed to do it "sooner rather than later" while she still can. Will be interesting if the bookers have approached her yet.

Me, I'd like...
a chaser
a member of the cast of Ghosts (from the six idiots)
Reece Shearsmith (in my dreams!)
Michaela Strachan
Kim Wilde
the legend that is Joan Collins (won't do it)
Richard Osman (won't do it)
Miranda Hart (won't do it)
Chris Packham (more chance of me doing it!)

They still have too many female pros, especially if Amy is back and partnering.
Unless they change it, we were only due 7 men and one of those rumoured is gay so potential same sex partnership. Unless they finally convince Claire Balding, Sue Perkins or Sandi Toksvig to do it (can't see any of them saying yes).

1. Lauren
2. Jowita
3. Katya
4. Karen
5. Dianne
6. Nadiya
7. Nancy
8. Amy
9. Luba
10. Michelle

1. Aljaz
2. Vito
3. Nikita
4. Kai
5. Gorka
6. Carlos
7. Jojo
8. Neil

Toyah had physical foot and back disabilities as a child so I'm not expecting her to be a great technical dancer, but I'd love to see her on the show.

Would love to see Chris McCausland do it, I think he'll be terrible but he's so likeable.

Hannah Fry would be an interesting choice. She's had lymphoedema after her cancer surgery which might be a problem for her, but shouldn't rule her out.

Andrew Ridgeley would be great.

GK Barry is bisexual and seems very likely to want to dance with a woman if she's on according to my 5 second google of her resume.

Last year had a partnership with two men with Layton and Nikita. I would assume that any same sex partnership this year would be two women so more female pros wouldn’t be an issue. I’d be very happy to see a female same sex partnership do well for once. Layton/Nikita and John/Johannes were great but I would love a similarly good F/F partnership.

You didn't enjoy Karen and Jayde booping each other's noses every 3 minutes? 😆

Please don’t remind me that that ever happened 😂

I know 😆
It was cute the first time 😆

Haha I went from loving Jayde for her role in Alma’s Not Normal to just wanting her off my screen as soon as possible!

I did like Nicola Adams, especially because Katya is a goddess who can do no wrong, but give me a really good female partnership in the likes of John/Johannes or Layton/Nikita. Please!

There shouldn't be any tying people to broom handles by any teacher, it's humiliating.

I wonder how much of the differences are cultural or part of the professional dance world. If the pros are behaving in this bullying way then it appears it’s part of their world and they see nothing wrong with it, which I suspect may be part of the problem which the BBC either knew about or should have done.

It also means that the BBC imo have failed the celebs in their duty of care who aren’t used to this type of behaviour.

Do the sports stars also feel intimidated as actors? I can remember comments from Manchester United players about Alex Ferguson and his blow dryer treatment.

In my school days throwing chalk, board rubbers & the slipper at pupils wasn’t unheard of. Wasn’t right then and isn’t right now and it is the same with Strictly.

How are they going to come back from this? It’s the BBC flagship show and will need to be revamped if it’s going to survive.

I do hope the Chris McCausland rumours are true. I like him. Otherwise I just hope there’s a few I have at least heard of!

They are professional dancers not professional instructors. And to have performed at the highest levels, they themselves were probably subjected to incredibly tough training regimes, don't know any different and believe that's the way to get results.

It is shocking and I'm not defending it but just because they seem like nice people and were good at dancing doesn't mean they'll be able to get results as a coach.

I like Strictly but wish it would tone down a tad and be less hysterical. I think the standard is too high, too many of them are too good from too early on for me to really enjoy seeing their progress. There's too much gushy lovey stuff and just too much applause. Last year there seemed to be a standing ovation for every dance.
It needs to be frothy and positive as Saturday evening family viewing but it's become silly imo.