Strictly off limits! Same-sex dancing gets a thumbs down
DAILY Express readers have come out massively against the suggestion that same-sex couples could appear on Strictly Come Dancing.
Critics claim changing the format would politicise a popular family show and lead to a fall in ratings.
Our poll yesterday revealed that 94 per cent of readers would oppose same-sex duos competing for the Glitterball.
Gay judge Craig Revel Horwood suggested the change could be introduced as early as next year.
He said: “In the world of competition, there are samesex couples. So there’s no reason why that can’t happen.
“The Beeb has to decide whether they want to do that one year. I think it will probably happen next year.”
But Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre, yesterday hit out at the idea.
She said: “It’s prime-time Saturday night television for families. It is one of the last things families do – sit around together and watch.
Political
“This relentless push from the LGBT community, in a so-called progressive campaign, is actually regressive.
“It is forcing people to accept something. This show is well-loved by families.
“If Strictly bows to the pressure of the lobby, it will be the end of Strictly.”
Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, claimed same-sex dancing on the show would be “widely seen as an abuse of popular family entertainment to communicate a political message”.
He said: “It would undoubtedly change the nature of the show and many parents who watch the programme with their children on a Saturday night will feel that this is not the time or place for gesture politics of this kind.”
Writer and broadcaster Reverend Richard Coles, who is also gay, revealed he had discussed the idea of samesex couples with show bosses.
He argued it made “no sense” for anyone to criticise the proposal.
Fellow contestant Susan Calman, who is a lesbian, has come under fire from gay activists for deciding to compete on the BBC show with a male partner.
She said previously: “I did think about dancing with a woman, but from the very first moment when I was asked about the show, I said I wanted to dance with a man. I think, politically, there’s nothing more powerful than having an openly gay woman on the biggest show on television whose wife’s in the front row doing what she wants to do.”
Bryan Allen, of the British Dance Council, described the row as a “spat between the BBC and the same-sex lobbies”.
TV bosses in America made history when they created the first same-sex couple to compete on Dancing With The Stars. They paired male model Nyle DiMarco with South African professional dancer Keo Motsepe.
The BBC said: “Strictly has chosen the format of mixedsex couples and we have no plans to introduce same-sex couples in the competition.”