‘Strictly Come Dancing’ presenter Claudia Winkleman has said she’s keen to see same-sex pairs perform on the show.
In recent years, the show has been at the centre of a debate about whether it’s time to see two men or two women hit the ‘Strictly’ dance floor, with arguments on both sides from past contestants and judges.
Claudia, who co-hosts the show with Tess Daly, has now added her voice to the discussion, saying she’s keen to see a LGBT+ celebrity contestant paired with a professional dancer of the same sex.
She told The Sun that a contestant “should be given that choice” if they wanted to be a part of a same-sex pairing, adding: “I’m not an expert so I’d go with the professionals. But I would quite like to see it.”
Long-serving ‘Strictly’ judge Craig Revel Horwood has always been vocal about his support for having same-sex pairings on the show, claiming back in 2015 that the decision would be imminent.
He added at the time: “We should encourage that sort of thing, absolutely. There are competitions throughout the world that have same sex couples, you just have to decide who goes backwards darling!”
Meanwhile, a same-sex dancing pair recently got the thumbs up over on ITV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, with judge David Walliams noting: “It just shows there’s nothing funny about two men dancing together. I don’t know why the show on the BBC doesn’t have two men dancing together.”
Claudia also confirmed during her interview with The Sun that both she and Tess will be back to present ‘Strictly’ when it returns to our screens later this year.