Strictly 2025 : Warm Up Chat

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Thought I’d sound the KLAXON and round everyone up for some Strictly chat about possible/rumoured contestants. They usually start announcing soon!

I’ve heard Dani Dyer, Stacey Solomon, Ashley Cain and Tom Parker Bowles

Any of the following probably would have given it a go:
Michaela Strachan
Princess Andre
Helen Flanagan
Angelica Bell
Coleen Nolan

And Billie Piper once said she'd never been asked (and did dance on I love Suzie too, which was brill).

Which two men would you take from the roster, to accommodate any of the above?
And how many of the above would have been deemed to be scraping the barrel or no different from some already signed?

I know it's a cliche but really, what a crap lineup. I've hardly heard of any of them, and so many men 😖 I mean, really could they not find more women to take part? There's no one on the line up that I feel anything about. Perhaps this is the year I really do stop watching.

For women with a family the show is a big commitment if you are going to do the full run of 3 months and then the live tour to make it financially sensible.

Angelica Bell has 2 children and her husband is a teacher at a top school where he will have commitments in the evenings and Saturdays, (you can google Michael underwood) for the autumn term. It don't think the financial return is worth the commitment compared to doing IACGMOOH.

If you follow JB Gill's wife's insta you can see how fed up she got with it all as he was never at home but it's done wonders for his career as he is now on the One Show rota.

Of the men I would jettison Thomas Skinner tbh

Last year wife beaters, this year MAGA lovers.

I’m not impressed with this year’s line up. But don’t want to just jump on the “scraping the barrel” bandwagon. So I did a comparison with 2015 and 2005…

2015: Peter Andre, Kellie Bright, Jeremy Vine, Carole Kirkwood, Katie Derham, Jamelia, Helen George, Daniel O’Donnell, Anita Rani, Anthony Ogogo, Georgia May Foote, Jay Macguiness, Ainsley Harriott, Kirsty Gallagher, Iwan Thomas.

2005: Zoe Ball, Darren Gough, Siobhan Hayes, Gloria Hunniford, Colin Jackson, Jaye Jacobs, James Martin, Patsy Palmer, Fiona Phillips, Dennis Taylor, Will Thorp, and Bill Turnbull

It is really clear that the BBC are struggling to fill the celebrity line up. It used to be a handful of not very well knowns alongside many household names. Now it’s the reverse.

But I’m not surprised. The constant training and pressure for 3 months, being chaperoned/filmed for every second while in the training room. The innuendos around “The Strictly Curse”. And the pay isn’t that great. If I was a Celeb, I’d rather do IACGMOOH or CBB.

Oh and please let it be an all woman final…Dani, Alex, Balvinder, Ellie, Karen, Vicky…don’t care who wins.

Great post @CagneyNYPD1 when put like that it’s really clear that it’s not a great year comparatively

Michaela Strachan spends a lot of time in South Africa these days. And I’m not sure how much time Autumn watch takes up. Saw her in a panto once she was Peter Pan and surprisingly good.

Perhaps they should use the salaries they are no longer paying to Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball to up the contestants pay. Or reduce the number of contestants by a couple so the series is shorter or keep it the same length and have four weeks at the start before anyone goes out so they all get a reasonable amount time to actually learn to dance and to win public support if they start off as an unknown.
Personally I think they should tell Vikki G to bring back sleeve hankies, ostrich feathers and proper wafty dresses - who could resist?

Michaela Strachan did Dancing on Ice last year. Coleen Nolan has also done DOI. So I doubt either will ever be asked to do Strictly.

Is DoI a shorter run ?

I have not watched DoI since Jason Gardner was a judge I can't remember how long its on

He's 6'9", said so himself on the Gary Davies show this morning.

He's just someone who's been on a TV game show isn't he? In that case why not ask Tom Day who won Pointless to take part?

So has Angela Rippon and Shayne Ward.
Thought they were being less stringent now.

DOI certainly didn't care about having Strictly's sloppy seconds of late, not sure why is snooty about it. At least hire one of the ex DOI pros!

I don't know most of the contestants - only Karen Carney and the two other sports people who I haven't heard about for many years Chris Robshaw and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink; so 3 have achieved something of note through sport and the rest are famous... if you can it that... for having gained some minor notoriety in niche areas? So far me - there's only Karen Carney who I'd find interesting. What about having someone from athletics, or a newsreader or a singer, comedian, chef, politician, film or theatre actor? It just seems a dismal and uninspiring lineup to me - after all the bad press for various reasons I would have thought the producers would have bent over backwards to breath some life into the show to get the viewing public back on board with it again.

Harry AA was a sprinter before he was a Gladiator.

True, I had forgotten about them! I think it’s harder now to find people who haven’t done one or other show.

Michaela Strachan said that she auditioned for Strictly twice and was rejected twice. Mature woman with dance-training and a BBC connection, known by middle-aged people who used to watch The Really Wild Show and children who watch Springwatch, etc.; it's really baffling that they didn't snap her up considering some of the weak signings they end up with.

Do you think the signings are just trying too hard to get other more disengaged audiences to tune into primetime BBC1? For example YouTubers or people from reality shows outside the BBC? Even the signing of Tom to make out that they aren't politically biased against the right? It just doesn't seem to be done on what's best to watch or to appeal to the audience they already have for strictly. Sometimes it's not even that I don't know who people are, they are just not big names with big followings of their own, like the GP last season?

I also - on name recognition only not photos - knew only six in 2025, 2015 and 2005, so my average is pretty much the same, year-in year-out.

They might claim they don't do a formula but we all know that's not the case. They try to appeal to each demographic/cover all voting bases/as many fandoms as possible.

Children-teens:
A pumped male gladiator.

A young inspiring model.

A Tiktoker/internet celebrity.
A lioness.

Younger audience:

A reality show alumnus/nepobaby.
A reality show alumnus/presenter.
A reality show alumnus/businessman.

Older audience:
A female soapstar/EE following.

A male older soapstar/Neighbours following.

A morning TV presenter.

Sports fans:

An international rugby player.
An international male footballer.

Cult fandoms:
An esteemed older actress/ following
A taller actor/ following
A drag queen/ Rupaul following.

It's very clever because of the crossovers that exist and the diversity of the casting.
They know what works.
I cannot see it being any different this year to other years.

There is definitely a range of 'types' they try to cover but we seem to be lacking in pop stars/ presenters this year.

Hodor! 🕺 💃 🪩

They had a few MPs over the years too - Ann Widdicombe, Ed Balls, Edwina Currie, Jacqui Smith. I'm surprised there hasn't been an ex Tory or two recently.