Olympic Team GB swimmer Tom Dean and EastEnders' Jamie Borthwick (Jay Brown) are now confirmed as well.

The final four confirmed celebrities were:

 

- Montell Douglas (Fire from Gladiators)

- Nick Knowles (DIY SOS)

- Paul Merson (Former Arsenal player and footie pundit)

- Sam Quek (Former Team GB Olympic field hockey player / TV presenter)

 

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This year is so unbelievably underwhelming

Really is such an underwhelming line up compared to the last few years :( I enjoyed Fire in the new series of Gladiators, but that seems like a straw-clutching signing. Sarah and Jamie are the only two I'm really looking forward to, but even then Jamie's already been a contestant in the Christmas special.

I'm most looking forward to Sarah, Shayne and JB. Although I do hold a degree of scepticism as to how the latter will fare (not because he's not up to it) but given the treatment Aston received at the hands of certain judges on his series when he did it. Once bitten, twice shy as they say...

The Sun are reporting there'll be no same sex partnerships this year in a bid to return to "traditional roots"

 

Producers made the decision earlier this month in a desperate bid to draw in higher audience numbers.

 

TV insiders told MailOnline that while the BBC wants to be seen as "inclusive and progressive", bosses are aware that "not everyone likes" the same-sex pairings.

 

Erm...okay then. :mellow:

Yeah I think I’ll give this season a pass. Yikes.

I don't think the line up is that bad... although I'm not a fan of the big gender imbalance or the fact there aren't any same sex couples etc. It does feel a step back - but names wise it feels bang on with most other years. Its just a shame that the show feels a little tainted at the moment and the line-up probably needed to be a little more wow to change things.

 

Saying that, there are a couple of celebs i'm looking forward to seeing.

That excuse re. the same-sex pairings is hilarious, get to f*** :lol: despite the amount of hate they received online, Layton and Nikita were probably the best and most successful same-sex pairing the show have had to date, so this is the biggest backwards step ever.

 

Interesting to see too that the TERF's accusations seem to have been thrown out based on the evidence Giovanni provided, so seems like her accusations were more a case of being an all-out male hater just for the sake of it. Hopefully Giovanni can return and move past it, but I think that seems unlikely now. The show's got a lot to do to rebuild its reputation after everything that's happened.

The lineup is VERY underwhelming - but I guess star power doesn’t matter so much if they’re entertaining enough. Probably most excited to see Shayne Ward. He’s always struck me as a down to earth guy and a very talented actor and singer. Hopefully he’s a triple threat. :D

I truly believe that The Scum just took a divisive angle with their framing of the no same sex couples thing this year and instead all 15 celebrities put forward a preference for an opposite sex partner. So it just fell that way rather than the show taking a sudden issue with it. I'm sure as soon as a same sex partner is requested again then that preference will be granted.

 

Strictly's historic progressiveness really drew me in as a viewer since I first started watching in 2018 (my favourite episode since then was the incredible semi final in 2021 with AJ, John, Rhys and Rose - such a talented and diverse crop of contestants) and going backwards to appease a certain noisy demographic online would be a baffling move. John/Johannes and Layton/Nikita may have received some backlash but they were both also popular enough couples to make their respective finals! This year we do have the first ever blind contestant, so progressive intentions are clearly still there in some form and hopefully there will be many beloved same sex couples to come over the years.

 

The controversy over the summer, e.g. Zara McDermott's story, was sad to hear about and I hope the procedures now in place will prevent that kind of behaviour from happening again.

 

I wasn't sure how the show would land tonight following the recent gloomy clouds of controversy but it did still feel like a comfort for me, Chris McCausland in particular was fabulous in the Clauditorium. Dr Punam and Montell seem like great fun out of the contestants I haven’t seen before.

I was about to say Chris and also Pete Wicks were hilarious with Claudia 🤣

 

Likewise, Sarah was - unsurprisingly - a hoot. She really is Stevie in real life. I can't at her manifesting Vito as her partner by sniffing his shoe backstage! Fabulous pairing all the same. Likewise JB with Amy and Shayne with Nancy, on which note lovely to see Amy back again.

JB and Amy have this in the bag :lol:

 

MoJo (love it :lol:) could be the dark horse! I'm expecting very good things from this partnership.

This series may have already peaked for me with a ROSALÍA song being used in the pro dance :cheeseblock:

Such great vibes from this series already :heart: seem like a great bunch. Sam and Nikita looking like they're going to be very strong.

Why has Shayne Ward done that to his hair, eh?

That was really impressive from Chris and Dianne *.*

 

Obsessed with Toyah doing about 10 camp head flicks in a row x

I'm definitely biased but Sarah has been the best of the night so far for me That was excellent from Chris too though!

Why did they get rid of same-sex partnerships?

Why did they get rid of same-sex partnerships?

 

I don’t think they have full stop but for some reason this year there’s fewer female contestants!

 

I think we may see another one for sure!

 

Also the first spoiler is out and it’s kinda a shock first boot!