The idea is cute, I have 100% faith beeb would **** it up, though.

I can't see it happening (though I swore blind that Ola would NOT be back under any circumstances, so what do I know) ~ in a country that just voted a Conservative government back in (and with UKIP getting a substantial vote-share too) the BBC are not about to decide that now's the time for risky boundary-pushing, not with their flagship show, and with Top Gear gone. That's a viewer share they simply cannot afford to hand to Cowell on a plate.

Though, in line with Chachachavvy's suggestions, I will sell a kidney to see Brenda get paired up with a black leather-wearing, mustachioed ultra-gay chap. Dirty filthy rhumbas for eva!

Tess? I dread to think! But Len would be fine with it. He has taught same-sex couples, and also judge competitions where they've danced. Very few people from the world of ballroom & Latin would have any qualms about dancing or judging same-sex couples.

The idea of a separate show is great though. I'd like to see that. But to have the level playing field everyone tries to insist upon, they would have to have the all-ladies in one comp and the all-men couples in another, which is how they dance in same-sex Real competitions!

Of course they would, in exactly the same way the ****'d up the image of ballroom dance with their ghastly presentations in Come Dancing, to say nothing of the chaos they caused when they broadcast parts of the UK Championships.

I think I saw somewhere on another thread that Brendan O'Carroll wanted to compete as Mrs Brown on a Xmas special.

That could be possible - and would be a same-sex couple - under the frock.

I don't think it's going to happen tbh. I agree with others saying if it does happen they should not be the "joke" couple as it would be a disservice to same sex dance partners. It should be someone in with a decent shout to win! I think I would slightly prefer two women dancing together just because of the costumes - although I would be interested to see how a man does as a follower bc I think it's easier to start as a beginner as the follower so the female celebs are always at a slight advantage.

I remember something about this too, but I can't decide if I like the idea or not. Sue Pollard still played a clown when she took part, so I don't see why Agnes Brown couldn't be in a Xmas special.

That's probably because she is a clown and doesn't know how to behave any other way

Ola is up for it.

http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/strictly-...-dance-couples

That'd be the same Conservative Govt. which legalised same-sex marriage - why not?

Not ALL right wing politicians/journos can be stereotyped as intolerant. Take Andrew Pierce ex-Telegraph now Daily Fail, politically right - Socially Liberal (and gay) as is Iain Dale of LBC, and many others.

However CRH was just shooting his mouth off {/expressing an opinion} and it's really a non-story, but Joanne from Grimsby expressed her approval on Twitter.

No offense but I hope that this isn't true.

Now hang on, I didn't suggest that all right-wing politicians are intolerant. Nor did I make any allusion to specific Conservative policies.

My point is that if the BBC were thinking of implementing a a change that is likely to upset a notable swathe of the viewing public (which it will do, if we're completely honest ~ there is still a huge amount of homophobia, whether overt or latent, in our society. I can, unfortunately, say without doubt that I know of a few colleagues, relatives and acquaintances who would be horrified by a same-sex couple) they'd be taking a big risk to do it immediately following a large portion of the voting public (and therefore, by extrapolation, the viewing public) demonstrating that their views are conservative and they are not in favour of change.

The fact that their sacking of Clarkson was met with many cries of 'PC gone mad!' could be taken as further evidence that now is not the wisest time to break new ground.

But I absolutely agree that this is probably just Craig saying something guaranteed to get him heard (though I said the exact same thing when James Jordan was all over Twitter saying that Ola was deffo coming back and was meeting with the producers right this second ~ so I am very likely completely wrong. Anton and Tom Daley to lift the 2015 glitter ball!! WOOOOOO!!)

I think it just proves that we are in Strictly silly season as far as the tabloids are concerned. Last series is really too far away to be newsworthy and next series is too far away as to still be unknown. It's the time when any celeb with a perfume or record to shill decides to throw out the nudge, nudge, Strictly have been knocking hints.

So, to keep the pot bubbling we get a 'this year, next year, sometime, never' response from Craig - at the promo of Ru Paul's Drag Race of all places - turned into 'definitely this year' headlines and Alesha saying she'd be up for a Strictly All Stars morphed into 'Alesha wants to return to Strictly' with a side order of the obligatory Kristina is at risk of not being asked back 'cos she's friends with Ben - oh, hang on, she's still there.

All (with the regard to the edibility of my hat) not going to happen but very nice for a bit of mid point publicity.

BIB: You are right. However, the real sad thing is that when homophobic people object to the idea of same-sex couples dancing, they are nearly always thinking in terms of 2 males dancing together. Women have been dancing together ever since dancing was created. Medallist competitions virtually always include events for all-female couples, from kids to adults ..... Of course, this is because girls outnumber the boys to such an extent that without all-female partnerships, there would be few couples dancing.

This doesn't alter the fact that go to ANY social dance and invariably there will be ladies dancing together, & no one blinks an eye-lid. If 2 males get up to dance together, you can almost hear the " Oh No no no, we can't have that; make them leave......."

Double standards or what?

I follow the west coast swing champions. I know it is not a dance very familiar to the UK but it is a social dance that is primarily lead-follow and is also danced in competition. When they do a group demo they will usually switch off partners with men dancing with men and women dancing with women and they switch off the leads. They usually come back to the male lead and female follower to end the demo but It's just the way they do it. It's demonstrating lead-follow and teamwork not gender specific. However, in most comps is it male lead and female follow.

An example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zeNz-JuMRg



2 women dancing wcs switching off leads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxezCtnt89M


Having some fun with lead and follow, switching partners both male and female.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXh9eoWBUbE

It is so hard to imagine same sex in the standard ballroom, waltz and foxtrot, etc. ??? And have it stay serious.

I've read all your comments Kaycee and I agree, people with real-world dance experience are going to be way less bothered by a same sex Strictly pairing - we're used to it!

It's pretty common in Lindy Hop for two chaps to dance together at a social dance, and no one would want them to leave (they are usually advanced dancers!) but I have had to stop two women breaking up an all-male dance partnership - they felt it was unfair that two primary role leaders were dancing together when there were more followers in the room and that entitled them to cut in, which is clearly bad manners. No one is *entitled* to dance with anyone and any decision between two dancers to dance together should be respected (two men dancing is not 'a waste' and two women dancing are not 'leftovers').

(There is some footage on youtube somewhere of me and a female friend dancing and switching the lead and follow back and forth. I'd show y'all, but we are actually gossiping all the way through and had no idea the camera was there, it doesn't exactly show us at our best ).

In terms of Strictly, I think that the pro dancer should continue in the role they have always done, and the celebs choice should be based on whether they want to lead or follow, not if they want to dance with a man or a woman. If they want a pro dancer that takes the opposite role to the traditional gender expectation, they should employ someone who dances that role competitively (example, celeb female leader and female pro follower or pro male leader and celeb male follower, fine and dandy. But the other way around it does becomes less about dancing and more about the celebs sexuality, real or implied).


Here is some of my favourite vintage dance footage, 1939 World Fair in NY - Lindy, Jitterbug, Foxtrot, Jive, some breakaway vernacular Jazz... - almost all the dancers are women. I'm pretty certain they aren't all gay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB28EIKC4DE

I'm not sure what the original point of having a same sex couple on Strictly is.
Is it some kind of statement of inclusivity?

The 10 dances are designed with very different male and female roles. That is where I see the problem.

Is there a difference to having two straight same sex people dancing together?
I guess if they were straight, it may well be that they would have one of them playing the male or more likely female role for laughs - and as we have seen that can work, and might do even if they were trying to be serious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiX0bSspyQs

The ten dances are already being danced by same sex couples in real world competition, so they must've been adapted somewhat successfully

If Strictly does have same sex couples then it won't be a case of one member playing the 'man' and another playing the 'woman' lol. That isn't how same sex couples dance.

Reading this thread is quite amusing.

It's 2015 not 1955!

Yes, it's 2015 and not 1955, but that doesn't mean the BBC wouldn't turn it into a big gimmick if they had a same-sex couple dancing on Strictly. If the BBC would let it pass by without remark and just let the couple get on with their training and dancing, it would be fine. However, the chances of that happening are unfortunately slim. Instead, Strictly would be more likely to make it all about the fact that it's a same-sex couple, and matter of their dancing would fade completely into the background.

What roles do they play in the 10 dances then?

Strictly isn't the 10 dances, It's a light entertainment show aimed at a mass audience although skewing towards an older, sometimes more conservative demographic. I understand that some people want it to adhere more to professional dance competition rules and regulations but that is never going to happen. Come dancing which steered more in that direction bombed years ago because there isn't a mass audience for that kind of dancing although there should be enough for BBC 4.

To understand the difference between a different sex dancing couple and a same sex one is easy: the person who leads / follows can change within a dance and from one dance to another. Same sex dancing does not reinforce gender stereotypes, it challenges them by subverting them. Hopefully it encourages people to think about technique at a deeper level, especially if the VTs were to focus on how a same sex couple choreograph what occurs at each stage of a routine and the reasoning behind it.

Couples are known as 'leader' & 'follower' as opposed to male & female.

In the case of 2 men dancing together, the one who is follower is not expected to act out being female, and it certainly isn't appreciated if he does.

Occasionally when 2 women dance, one might wear trousers, but normally for competitions, they wear matching dresses.

Come Dancing wasn't that popular, was it? That's why it only lasted 40+ years!! And it has to be remembered the dancers were amateurs; although a lot were good - Matt Cutler, Ian Waite, etc., some were almost laughable. But the real problem was the presenters. Eg. Terry Wogan who sneered & passed stupid comments nearly everytime he opened his silly mouth.

As for same-sex dancing in Strictly. The couples who compete in same-sex competitions take their dancing every bit as seriously as anyone else, but unfortunately I can't see the BBC treating them as anything other than a joke.

As much as it would be nice to think that people might think about technique at a deeper level, it isn't going to happen. To Strictly viewers (the non-dancing ones) technique doesn't carry any weight at all. Some technically good dancers have been voted off early in favour of some who can hardly dance at all; some manage to win without mastering technique; Caroline Flack never managed to master the ballroom technique at all, but won because she was showy on the less technical dances such as Charleston.

Thanks for explaining that.

I'm one of those that would like there to be specific rules that everyone was trying to adhere to so every couple would have the same task to be achieved. Then the judging of the dancing can be fairer. The 10 dance rules already exists, so it makes sense to me to pick some from those to adhere to.