If the contestants are to be believed, the professionals on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing will have a harder task than ever whipping their partners into waltzing shape.
According to former Labour MP Ed Balls, his current dance style is that of a “camp rugby player”, while Olympic gold-medal winning long-jumper Greg Rutherford has asserted he closely resembles a “drunken spider” on the dancefloor.
The pair are among a lineup of competitors that also includes singers Will Young and Anastacia, model Daisy Lowe, TV presenter Louise Redknapp, BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty and Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane.
Since it began in 2004, Strictly Come Dancing has grown into the BBC’s biggest entertainment fixture, attracting audiences of up to 12 million. It was described by the head of BBC Studios, Mark Linsey, as “one of the jewels in our crown”. The BBC has felt no need to shake up the reliable format, which last year drew a million more viewers each Saturday than ITV rival The X Factor. However, this will be the last series judged by Len Goodman, who has been a fixture since the start.
The contestant who has attracted the most attention so far is Balls, who recently admitted that his decision to fill the void left by politics with the paso doble was part of a “midlife crisis”. The 49-year-old former shadow chancellor said getting past the second round would be “of itself an achievement”.
His current dancing experience extended to “a lot of line dancing, a lot of pensioners clubs. But I don’t think it counts.”
It was his wife, the Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who convinced him to go on the show. The pair recently got out their wedding video to examine his dancing, which he said “wasn’t so bad”. Balls said another motivator was the opportunity to get trim.
“Everybody says you lose weight and I think that is essential for me,” he said. “The actual live show I find a bit intimidating but the training I’m really looking forward to.” On the outfits front, Balls was firm: “Very classical ... no glitter, no sequins.”
He added that he had also had a large number of calls and texts from his former colleagues to wish him good luck. “I’ve not yet had a text from David Cameron but I don’t mind – as long as he votes for me,” said Balls.
Participation in this year’s Strictly is particularly poignant for Anastacia as it follows her double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2013. The US singer will be donating her fee from the show to a breast cancer charity, and said her illness had helped her stop caring what anybody thought.
“The mastectomy brings you down to earth and makes you go, ‘Well, now I’ve removed a body part – what more is there to be nervous about and scared about? Just throw yourself into it and be the best you can be,’” she said.
The operation left Anastacia with large scars across her back and she said she was still unsure whether she would reveal them on the show.
“We’ll see where my power comes from and what happens ... I’m not saying I may not have a moment where I think, ‘I’m going to do it,’” she said.
Also participating this year will be Birds of a Feather actor Lesley Joseph who, at 70, will be the oldest woman ever on the show. Joseph, who does yoga, said she was “keeping up so far”.
She added: “I’m reasonably fit but there are bound to be some things I can’t do. But hopefully my partner will be able to guide me through things I can do so it looks good even if I can’t kick my leg up. And I don’t care about winning.”
Rutherford, who has just competed in the long jump at the Olympic Games in Rio, said he did not think his athletic training would give him an advantage on the dancefloor.
“I’ll be honest: I’m not that good – and that’s being nice to myself,” he said. “It’s strange because every other competition I go into with the thought ‘I want to win’ whereas this is just ‘stay in for a couple of weeks’.”
He added: “I’ve specifically asked not to have my shirt off. I do it so much with what I do that I went into costume and asked if I could not be naked please.”
