Talk of the Town
Barnstormer Bonnie all set to fill Darcey’s Strictly shoes
VETERAN actress and dancer Bonnie Langford is being lined up to replace Darcey Bussell as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, I can reveal.
The ex-Doctor Who and EastEnders star, whose showbiz career spans four decades, has made the shortlist drawn up over the past week after Darcey, a former Royal Ballet principal dancer, announced she was stepping down.
Sources say everyone on the show is excited at the prospect of Bonnie, 54, joining because of her wealth of experience as a dancer, singer and actress.
And if the former child star is offered the lucrative judging job, it’s unlikely she would turn it down. Just three years ago, when asked if she would like to replace former head judge Len Goodman, she enthused: ‘Now that would be fun. Oh my God, I would absolutely love it!’
My spy on the show reveals: ‘The rumour mill has obviously already started, with many names being bandied around. But Bonnie is an absolute contender for the role.
‘She seems to tick all the boxes and because of her recent role in EastEnders as Carmel Kazemi, she is seen as very BBC. She is one of the standout names being discussed – it’s all very exciting.’
I’m told producers of the hugely popular dance show are keen to get someone with experience after former judge Alesha Dixon, a pop singer, faced criticism when she replaced Arlene Phillips in 2008.
Bonnie, who starred on ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2006 and took part in the subsequent tour, once admitted it would be difficult to compete on Strictly because she went to the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
‘People would see me as a trained dancer and therefore not on a level playing field with the other contestants,’ she said.
Bonnie was just six when she won Hughie Green’s Opportunity Knocks TV talent show in the early 1970s and went on to play Violet Elizabeth Bott in the Just William series and the Doctor’s companion Mel in Dr Who. She is starring in the West End musical 9 to 5, but that finishes at the end of August – just in time to join the other Strictly judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Shirley Ballas.