Culture

Bisexual boxer Nicola Adams makes history as part of Strictly Come Dancing’s first-ever same-sex pairing

Nicola Adams Strictly Come Dancing

Nicola Adams. (URI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty)

Strictly Come Dancing bosses have finally agreed to feature a same-sex couple in its next season, with Olympic boxer Nicola Adams set to take to the stage with a female partner.

Adams will be paired up with a professional female dancer for the show’s next season, which is set to begin in October.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning (2 September), Adams said it’s “a big step” for Strictly Come Dancing.

“It’s nice to see that we’re able to move on. I just can’t wait to get some dancing done really,” she said.

“It’s definitely time for change, it’s definitely time to move on and be more diverse, and this is a brilliant step in the right direction.”

She added: “It will be nice for the LGBT+ community to be able to see that they have same-sex couples on the show as well.”

Adams, who retired from boxing last year, also revealed that she was the one who asked producers if she could dance with a female partner.

“I asked the show about it. They wanted to know if I wanted to be on the show and I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it, but I want to dance with another female dance partner.'”

Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams will be part of the first ever same-sex couple on Strictly Come Dancing.

Adams joins Clara Amfo, Max George, Ranvir Singh, Caroline Quentin and Jason Bell on the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing.

It is not yet known which professional female dancer Adams will be paired with.

The news has been praised by LGBT+ viewers, with many noting that the decision will break new ground for queer representation on television.

Strictly Come Dancing has featured around 240 mixed-sex couples throughout its run – but in recent years, the series has faced sustained criticism from LGBT+ viewers over its lack of queer representation.

The pressure intensified when the show’s ITV rival Dancing on Ice beat them to the punch and featured a same-sex couple on its last season.

An insider told The Sun in July that Strictly bosses were considering introducing two same-sex couples in its next season – both a male and a female pairing.

“This is another intriguing twist in the journey.

“Everyone assumed producers would simply pair gay pro, Johannes Radebe, with a male celebrity but they felt that was too obvious. Then there was a suggestion they would opt to put two women together.

“But nobody expected having pairings of both genders.”

The long-running dance contest featured a same-sex dance routine between two professional performers in 2019.

In November 2019, Strictly Come Dancing won praise from viewers when it broadcast a beautiful, heartfelt dance between two professional male dancers on the show.

Johannes Radebe and Graziano Di Prima made television history when they performed a routine to “Shine” by Emeli Sande.

Many saw the dance routine as a precursor to more meaningful queer representation in the future.

However, not everybody loved the same-sex dance – more than 300 people complained to the BBC over the routine, with most saying it was “offensive to show two men dancing together”.

The broadcaster did not uphold any of the complaints.

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