Sunday Mail (UK)

Tikly come dancing

Bosses want online stars to waltz in for new series

- Halina Watts

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.

Now, chiefs are keen to sign up TikTok’s most influentia­l Brit – Holly H.

The 23-year- old, from Guernsey, has at least 16million 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 Hubert – has been branded the most influentia­l British

23- year - old . 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 500million users, topping Snapchat’s 291million and Twitter’s 335million.

It has also beaten Facebook and YouTube for App Store downloads. The app is especially popular with under-18s and some of its biggest stars are teenagers, including 16-year- old US singers Loren Gray and Jacob Sartorius.

The source said: “Most of Strictly’s older viewers will not know what Tik Tok is but it is becoming such a big platform, bosses think it will be a perfect way of attracting young fans to the show.” Strictly decl ined to comment.

 ??  ?? TOK OF THE TOWN Holly H is a huge star Pic Getty
TOK OF THE TOWN Holly H is a huge star Pic Getty
 ??  ?? POPULAR Mrs Hinch and Zoe Sugg
POPULAR Mrs Hinch and Zoe Sugg
 ??  ?? TV HIT Dianne and Joe
TV HIT Dianne and Joe

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom