STRICTLY SOCIAL
Bosses want online stars for new series KRIS DOES LOCK STEP
STRICTLY bosses are planning to sign a big social media star in a bid to attract a younger audience to the hit BBC show.
Youtubers Joe Sugg and Saffron Barker both proved popular when they took part.
And now, chiefs are keen to sign up Tik Tok’s most influential Brit – Holly H.
The 23-year-old from Guernsey has at least 16 million followers.
Other names in the mix are Instagram cleaning queen Mrs Hinch, 30, and Joe Sugg’s sister Zoe, 30, who vlogs as Zoella.
Producers are confident Zoe, who previously rejected their advances, will now be interested after seeing the reaction to Joe in 2019.
The 28-year-old made the final after being partnered with Dianne Buswell, 31.
We can also reveal interior designer and former Dragon’s Den star Kelly Hoppen, 60, is planning to meet the competition’s booking agents.
A source said: “Joe and Saffron proved booking a big name from social media attracts a younger audience and provides a huge reach to promote the show.
“Holly H, Mrs Hinch and Zoella are very much on the bookers’ radar.
“They also plan to meet Kelly Hoppen, who is a massive fan of the programme and tuned in religiously when her pal and fellow Dragon Deborah Meaden took part in 2013.”
Kelly is also friends with Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli and presenter Tess Daly.
Holly H – real name Holly
KRISTINA Rihanoff is among ex-strictly pros rumba-ing through lockdown to keep cash rolling in.
The 42-year-old, who quit the show in 2015 and moved in with rugby star Ben Cohen after being paired with him in the contest, charges £40 for a private lesson at her studio in Northampton.
James, 42, and Ola Jordan, 37, charge £300 for a private lesson – which were sold out on their website. Robin
Hubert – has been tipped as the most influential 23-year-old in Britain. Most people over 21 will not know who she is – but her army of followers make her Britain’s biggest Tiktok star and a social media phenomenon.
She regularly shares 15-second videos of herself, often lip-syncing to songs, dancing or completing challenges such as creating fake slow-motion footage or pretending to DJ.
Video-sharing app Tiktok now has more than 500 million users, topping Snapchat’s 291 million and Twitter’s 335 million.
It has also beaten Facebook and Youtube for App Store downloads. The app is especially popular with under18s and some of its biggest stars are teenagers such as US singers Loren Gray and Jacob Sartorius, both 16.
The source said: “Most of Strictly’s older viewers will not know what Tik Tok is but it is becoming such a big platform they think it will be a perfect way of attracting young fans to the show.” Strictly declined to comment.
Windsor, 40, who retired as a pro dancer in 2018, wants £70 for a private lesson.
Fans of Kevin Clifton, 37, and sister Joanne, 36, can access training videos, via their parents’ Grimsby dance school, for £7.95. But online advice from current Strictly pros Karen Hauer, 38, Oti Mabuse, 29, and Dianne Buswell, 31, is free if you follow their Instagram account and join in live classes held every week.