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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Monkey

Strictly Come Dancing: male dancers 'ordered to keep tops on'

Strictly Come Dancing: Ashley Taylor Dawson
Strictly Come Dancing: Hollyoaks star Ashley Taylor Dawson claims there were complaints over his bare-chested dance. Photograph: Guy Levy/BBC

Strictly Come Dancing's male contestants have been told to keep their tops on following complaints, claims one of the contestants. The Sun reports that Ashley Taylor Dawson said some viewers made a fuss over his raunchy samba routine with partner Ola Jordan, in which he went bare-chested under an open shirt. This scuppered rugby player Ben Cohen's hopes of taking his top off on Saturday in his dance with with partner Kristina Rihankoff. Taylor Dawson said: "Ben was going to take his top off last week but he wasn't allowed. There had been complaints about me having my top open. Imagine that? I was like, 'Hang on a minute, Louis Smith had his top off all the time last year.' I don't know what I was showing that was so bad ... my boobies? I don't know. I have no idea." His comments follow judge Darcey Bussell saying she was distracted by the soap star's chest, and told him to "maybe do up the shirt next week". A BBC spokesman said: "We certainly haven't been inundated with complaints about the male celebrities performing topless." Perhaps it's all just a bare-faced publicity stunt?

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