‘Having same-sex couples on dwts would be no big deal...’
Rte show boss open to mixing things up
DANCING With The Stars boss Larry Bass has revealed he’s “open” to having same-sex couples on the RTE show.
The head of production company Shinawil said such dance duos have appeared on other TV programmes and it was “no big deal”.
Mr Bass added Strictly bosses in the BBC have given the green light to same-sex couples but said it would be up to the celebrity to decide who they would like to dance with. He told the Irish Mirror: “I spoke to the producer in Italy about it. They had a same-sex couple. It was no big deal.
“If we have somebody who wants to do the show and they wanted to dance with a same-sex partner, we will certainly have that partner. We’re open to that discussion. We’ve cleared it with the BBC and the BBC won’t have an issue.
“It’s not a case of, ‘Oh it is not allowed’. It has to be put to the individual dancing and who they are.
“It’s been a tradition men dancing with women, including gay men dancing with gay women. We’d never force anyone to dance with a partner they were uncomfortable with. We will have the conversation when it arrives. “Ireland is a country that is very, very comfortable with same-sex anything.”
Mr Bass also revealed he is already in talks with various celebrities about appearing in the third series of the dancing competition, which will return to our screens in January.