Strictly Come Dancing 2021 Is a Jigsaw Puzzle for Punters
The line-up for the 19th series of Strictly Come Dancing has now been made official. 16 celebrities have signed-up to the show which will hit the BBC 1 airwaves on September 11. The show, which always attracts an average viewing audience in excess of ten million people, is set to run for 13 weeks. The grand final will be broadcast live just a week before Christmas.
McFly singer Tom Fletcher is swapping the stage for Strictly Come Dancing’s ballroom floor. ©GettyImages
This year producers have thrown sportsmen, comedians, singers, presenters, Olympians, and soap-opera stars into the blender. Even they will struggle to predict what will come out in the mix.
Introduced into the betting as the marginal favorite is Tom Fletcher. The vocalist is best known for being part of the pop band McFly, and he can be backed at 4/1. Adam Peaty, the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title, is hot on his heels at 9/2.
But with eight contestants priced under 10/1 and the biggest outsider of the field – Dragon’s Den investor and businesswoman Sarah Davies – considered a 25/1 shot, Strictly Come Dancing 2021 looks a wide-open affair.
A Wise Head…
Last year, in a shortened version of the show, comedian and performer Bill Bailey won the Glitterball Trophy. In doing so he became the show’s oldest ever winner at age 55. In 2021 actor Greg Wise, also aged 55, will try to emulate him.
On announcing his Strictly participation Wise, whose acting roles include Lord Mountbatten in Netflix’s The Crown and John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility – where he starred alongside his wife Emma Thompson – said:
“My beautiful sister was a huge disco queen. She left our world almost exactly five years ago in a glitter ball coffin. This is for her. My gorgeous Diva sis, who would have been insane with excitement that her little bro was doing this. I will channel her, as her bro can’t dance. But I’m thrilled to be dipping my toes, knees, hips and arms into this wonderful world, and hope to make her proud, and obviously make her laugh”.
Sports or Soap?
A sportsman has not won Strictly Come Dancing since
Two contestants who will enjoy trawling through the Strictly formbooks are Nina Wadia and Rose Ayling-Ellis. Wadia had a six-year stint in East Enders and Ayling-Ellis is a current cast member.
Actors that have appeared in East Enders have traditionally fared well in this celebrity gameshow; several have made the final. 2010 winner Kara Tointon was the most recent ‘East Ender’ to earn herself a Glitterball Trophy.
Rose Ayling-Ellis, who plays Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap, will make history as the first deaf contestant to take part in Strictly. If the viewing public start to comprehend the difficulty of dancing while unable to hear the accompanying music, her current odds of 8/1 will surely tumble.
Cooking Up a Special Something
Another contestant set to create Strictly history is John Whaite. The 2012 Great British Bake Off winner will compete in the first all-male same-sex pairing in the show’s 18-year history.
John Whaite, seen here demonstrating his cooking skills alongside Hersha Patel, will compete in Strictly’s first all-male same-sex pairing. ©GettyImages
His Strictly participation was announced on BBC Radio 2’s morning show. Shortly afterwards the BBC’s dedicated Strictly Come Dancing website quoted him as saying:
“I’m so grateful, excited, and nervous to be joining the Strictly 2021 family. I’ve been wearing sequins and jazzy attire since I was three years old and can’t wait to hurl myself, full throttle, around the most glamorous dance floor on earth”.
“What’s more exciting for me, is that I’m going to be one half of the first all-male partnership, which is a great step forward in representation and inclusion. Whoever it is I’m paired with, I hope they are up for a challenge as I want our routines to include lots of spectacular lifts!”
There’s actually a two pronged – should that be forked? – attack from the kitchen-folk with Tilly Ramsay also in the line-up. At 19, and primarily famous for being Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, the up-and-coming chef would be one of the lesser-known contestants.
Nevertheless, the TV gameshow odds compiler at BoyleSports believes she should be no bigger than 9/1 in their betting list. Ramsay does have almost a million Instagram followers and this may explain the bookmaker’s caution.
Dancing, Not Celebrity, Matters
Comedian Robert Webb, Football Focus presenter Dan Walker, Loose Woman Judi Love, presenter turned full-time celebrity TV contestant AJ Odudu and CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson complete the 2021 Strictly Come Dancing line-up.
It can be difficult to envisage how the presenter of a football show or children’s TV will garner enough votes to remain in this show until final night – Rhys Stephenson’s CBBC’s viewers are too young to text a premium-rate number in order to vote for example – but the size of celebrity before the event normally means very little once the dancing starts.
Whilst there is no obvious bias in terms of gender or background, the list of previous winners (below) suggests people considering placing a bet on this gameshow could do worse than concentrate on the 25-31 age bracket.
Year – Winner – Age (when winning)
- 2020 – Bill Bailey – 55
- 2019 – Kelvin Fletcher – 35
- 2018 – Stacey Dooley – 31
- 2017 – Joe McFadden – 42
- 2016 – Ore Oduba – 31
- 2015 – Jay McGuiness – 25
- 2014 – Caroline Flack – 34
- 2013 – Abbey Clancy – 27
- 2012 – Louis Smith – 23
- 2011 – Harry Judd – 25
- 2010 – Kara Tointon – 27
- 2009 – Chris Hollins – 38
- 2008 – Tom Chambers – 31
- 2007 – Alesha Dixon – 28
In 2021 that will narrow the field down to Adam Peaty, John Whaite, Katie McGlynn, Rhys Stephenson and Rose Ayling-Ellis. But not until the curtain-raising show on September 11, and possibly the first live show on September 25, will we have any idea which contestants can actually dance!
