Strictly Come Dancing star Jayde Adams explains powerful reason she chose a same-sex partner
Jayde Adams said the pairing just felt natural to her. (Getty)
Strictly Come Dancing 2022 contestant Jayde Adams has explained her decision to pair with a same-sex partner
The comedian said in a Friday (23 September) interview with Digital Spy that the pairing fit her previous training on the dancefloor.
Adams explained that she has a background in “competitive disco dance” along with her late sister and that returning to the dancefloor with a same-sex partner was a full-circle moment for her.
She also revealed in a launch show that she is to be partnered with Venezuelan-American professional dancer Karen Hauer, who has been with the series since 2012.
“I think my partnership with Karen is more about sisterhood, and if you’re in the dance world, which I was as a child, the sort of all-girl and all-male partnerships [are] quite commonplace.
“Also, to be honest with you, if I was in a male partnership, show me one of the lads that’s lifting me. I’m now going to be able to throw Karen Hauer around that dance floor. She’s going over my head, I don’t care!” she joked.
While she admits a large portion of her reasoning is down to her own professional background, there’s also an element of normality that goes into it for Adams.
“Obviously, it’s a new thing in these dance shows, the one that’s in Australia and the one that’s in America, but I think the world is changing and to me, it just doesn’t seem like anything that’s abnormal,” she said. “It seems like a completely natural thing.”
According to Adams, she even had a little help from “all of my gays,” including the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race, in keeping her exciting same-sex pairing a secret until its official announcement, saying that “they’re all so thrilled for me. I’m gonna have a couple of them come on and watch the show as well.”
This is Strictly Come Dancing’s fourth same-sex pairing
This is the fourth same-sex pairing to be featured in Strictly Come Dancing since its first season in 2004.
The show’s first foray into a same-sex sway came in 2020 with Nicola Adams and Katya Jones taking their historic steps onto the dancefloor.
The decision came after Jones said to the Sunday Mirror that she would “love to dance with a woman on the show” and, after being offered to participate, Adams told producers that dancing as a same-sex couple was “non-negotiable” for her.
“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,'” she said. “It’s really important. It’s a big step for the show as well.”
The couple managed to wow judges for the first four weeks of the 2020 show, but were sadly withdrawn from the competition after Jones tested positive for COVID-19.
Since then, couple John Whaite and Johannes Radebe debuted as the show’s first all-male pairing in 2021, and an additional all-male couple will land on the dance floor in 2022 with Richie Anderson, who was encouraged by his boyfriend to enter the competition with another man.
“They actually gave me the option over it,” Anderson said. “When I spoke to my other half Dean, it was our 10-year anniversary and he was like, ‘You have to,’ and it[‘s the 50th anniversary of Pride in the UK.”
