Have a black couple for the first time on SCD.

We now have Oti and Anthony, which probably gonna be the blackest couple we ever gonna have on strictly.

Anthony is mix race.

All that debate about having a gay couple on strictly, we probably need a pure black couple first?

I think it's great and the BBC got it right.

I've never given skin colour much thought really . There are quite a mix of nationalities in the pros . Oti will be fabulous for sure , all she needs to do now is whip Antony into shape. Could be a great pairing and grab that glitterball trophy .

Would you have preferred Oti to be paired up with Ainsley??

It's odd that in the 'real' dance world there are actually relatively few black ballroom & Latin dancers. I think it's more to do with culture than anything else, possibly much the same way that Indian people often prefer 'Bollywood' type dancing to ballroom and Latin - and why not?

Why would you need a black couple before a same sex couple?

Talk about great minds thinking alike Skyler! I had this exact idea for a thread about four hours ago. I did not post it as yet due to work commitments.

However, now that you've read my mind, my opinion is again, akin to yours - it is really refreshing to see this and I applaud the BBC for taking this decision.

To be quite frank, I did not think they would go with the idea of Oti with either Ainsley or Anthony in a month of Sundays so I truly stand corrected. This is the nearest will will ever get and I embrace the idea wholeheartedly.

Once I heard Anhony was competing, I made it clear that I would be getting behind him. Being paired with Oti makes me even more keen for them to win!

Just a shame that the OP can only note the colour of two people's skins, and not the fact they are two lovely people paired together for a dancing competition.

The OP cannot state, as a matter of fact, that they are "two lovely people" - unless of course the OP knows them personally (which I doubt).

He/she can, however, state (as a matter of fact) that one is black and the other is mixed race. Another fact is that there has never been a black couple on Strictly.

Given that this is an absolute first in 13 years, this is Strictly stepping into brand new territory, As such, this topic fully deserves to be highlighted and discussed. It is no different to talking about Pasha getting somebody over 34 for the first time since he joined five years ago.

Thank you for your valued input, but quite clearly you missed the point. You are correct that neither the op, or myself know with any certainty that they are "two lovely people" but one would assume so.

Even on assumption, why should this be "noted"?

Shall we also note that all 30 individuals taking part are human??

Again point totally missed.

Why are we making such a big deal about the person's skin colour? Then to make things worse, "one is black one is mixed race" in the op's view (not mine) We have a couple paired on Strictly, do we now need to have "matching skin colours" for this to be fully "OK".

Really? My god how ridiculous, do they need matching skin tones now?

I wonder if this question has ever been asked re all the white couples who have appeared over the years...?

Yeah I think it's a pretty rude and diminishing to basically say someone "isn't black enough" to be black (I mean REALLY?!), or rating people as "the blackest ever." Talking about "purity" when it comes to skin colour is quite insulting too.

White couples? All they do is paint them 'orange'

Does anyone notice once they have spray tanned them?