Enough with the smooching and swearing – it’s strictly not necessary
FIRST they were given a coach/chaperone for their cha-cha. Then Strictly Come Dancing producers were so afraid of disgraced dancers Seann Walsh and Katya Jones spontaneously combusting with lust they had to dance a quickstep with a guitar between their sweaty bodies.
It does not augur well for tonight’s show, where the duo, photographed having a drunken kiss a few weeks ago, will perform a Viennese waltz. I half expect the dance floor will be ringed with Strictly lackeys, ready to fire tranquiliser darts at the pair if there is a hint of steaminess. Either that, or Katya will be dressed in a full suit of armour.
The comedian and the Strictly pro had the great misfortune to be caught out during the new age of puritanism. You didn’t get the email? Allow me to enlighten you.
The great spinning wheel of social mores has shifted away from hedonism and towards prudishness. Take The Little Drummer Girl, which sets up shop on BBC1 tomorrow in the slot recently vacated by Bodyguard. The drama about a Ptsd-stricken former soldier was memorable for its forward-thinking approach to gender. To wit, it was a man, Scotland’s Richard Madden, who got his kit off. Madden’s flashing of his naked bahookie is known as “doing a Night Manager” after the Tom Hiddleston scene in a previous le Carre adaptation.
There will be no such carry-on in Drummer Girl, says one of its stars, Florence Pugh. As she told the Radio Times, the spy tale is a British-us co-production, which means American sensitivities have to be heeded. “America is quite scared of bums,” said Pugh. “And nipples. We had to make sure there were no bums and nipples out. Such strange people.”
Performers at the Wireless Festival in London next summer have been told not to swear or sport attire which “exposes the groin, private parts, buttock or female breasts”. Haringey council has imposed the no-cursing rule following complaints from locals last year that profanities were wafting in their windows. In a separate move, Google has told its staff to mind their language, urging them not to swear in internal discussion groups.
Why is this happening now, you