Typically, the Strictly launch show is an uncontroversial beast. It’s a shiny, happy extravaganza; an extended, pre-recorded love-in that doesn’t tend to make headlines because the judges are putting on their most welcoming smiles rather than dishing out scathing critiques. But on Saturday night, as fans tuned in to discover which celebrity hopefuls had been teamed up with which professional dancers, one particular pairing appears to have raised everyone’s eyebrows skyward.
The BBC’s decision to cast Thomas Skinner – the former Apprentice contestant turned professional Essex geezer turned right-leaning social media mouthpiece, known for hanging out with JD Vance and posting about flag-waving – has dominated discussion of the new season since the line-up was confirmed in August. And not in a good way. Director general Tim Davie has weighed in to defend the hiring (“We wouldn’t take anyone whose views are just beyond the pale,” he said earlier this month). Skinner himself has come under further scrutiny for reportedly picking up a journalist’s phone then storming out of a pre-Strictly press event, and has had past infidelities dragged through the tabloids.
It’s no wonder, then, that the biggest question ahead of Saturday evening’s diamanté-studded festivities was: who the heck was going to have to draw the short straw and dance with one of the most controversy-laden contestants in recent Strictly history? There was never going to be a solution that pleased everyone, but the producers’ decision initially seems carefully calibrated to annoy as many Strictly super-fans as possible.
Skinner, we learnt on Saturday, will be joining forces with Amy Dowden, the much-loved and perennially sunny Welsh dancer and former British National Latin Dance champion. It’s safe to say that this particular pairing didn’t exactly go down too well with viewers: “justice for Amy” was a common refrain on social media. “The Strictly producers will pay for their crimes against Amy this year,” one Twitter/X user wrote. “Has the woman not overcome enough?”
Dowden has certainly been through it over the past few years. In 2023, at the age of 32, she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, after discovering a lump in her chest the day before she was set to fly out on her honeymoon. She underwent a mastectomy, but was then told that the tumours had spread, and that she would have to embark on a course of chemotherapy, meaning she wouldn’t be able to compete in that year’s edition of Strictly.
Throughout all of this, she seemed to somehow keep smiling, and used her platform as one of the brightest stars of arguably the BBC’s biggest show to remind people to check their breasts for potential warning signs. And when she made a surprise appearance during a Strictly episode that season, she chose to do so without a wig after shaving her head while undergoing chemotherapy, in a gesture of solidarity with those dealing with the same illness. Last year, she learnt the cancer had gone into remission, and the 20th anniversary season of Strictly should have been a brilliant comeback – until she had to drop out of the competition after sustaining a stress fracture.
Dowden’s strength and positivity in the face of heartbreaking knock-backs has only cemented her position as a fan-favourite. Viewers (myself included) were rooting for her to be partnered up with someone with real potential this time around. She’s made it to the finals before, when she trained up TV presenter Karim Zeroual back in 2019, but has never lifted the glitterball trophy – and, from a more cynical perspective, wouldn’t a win be the sort of feel-good narrative that this scandal-beset show could really do with?
Equally, though, and as much as it pains me to admit it, you can see the (similarly cynical) logic in a Dowden-Skinner pairing. Skinner will likely have been snapped up for the show a good few months ago, before his personal brand seemed to take such a pivot towards political popularism. Back then, he was still something of a Marmite character, but he was better known for sharing videos of himself demolishing full English breakfasts then shouting “Bosh!”, rather than donning a Make America Great Again hat and hanging out with right-wingers.
It’s entirely possible that, after Skinner’s meeting with Trump’s vice president over the summer, the show’s bosses started to panic about the optics. Pairing one of the most, shall we say, divisive contestants with a dancer that everybody loves feels like a simple way to try to soften some of the edges of Skinner’s public persona. I’m sure Skinner was thrilled at the news; it’s the best thing that’s happened for his PR ratings in months. Dowden has such a built-in fan base that I’m sure he’ll end up sticking around for a bit longer than his so-far extremely rudimentary moves might merit.
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I can’t say I love the idea of a successful and popular woman being drafted in to help boost a controversial man’s likeability factor. But Dowden is nothing if not a consummate pro: if anyone can make the best of a potentially tricky situation, it’s her.
