Amy Dowden gets first Strictly Come Dancing pairing in two years
It was revealed on Saturday’s 2024 launch show that Dowden was partnered with JLS star JB Gill.
Amy Dowden has been paired with a celebrity contestant on Strictly Come Dancing for the first time in two years.
The Welsh dancer was last partnered with EastEnders star James Bye in 2022, before she was diagnosed last year with breast cancer.
The show is returning amid controversy about the alleged teaching methods of some former dancers, which had no mention during the BBC One show.
The 20th anniversary return was also the first time there were no same-sex pairings since 2019.
A BBC spokesman said: “Each series of Strictly is unique and there is no hard and fast rule on the show regarding same sex pairings. Strictly pairings have never been about ticking boxes.”
The first episode of this year also paid tribute to both former professional Robin Windsor and ex-contestant and Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers, who both died in February. Windsor was 44 and Myers was 66.
It was revealed on Saturday’s 2024 launch show, that Dowden was partnered with JLS star JB Gill as co- host Claudia Winkleman told her she was “so happy” to see her there following tests showing she had “no sign of the disease”.
Dowden said: “I’m delighted, it just feels like my first year all over again. I just want JB to have the best time and fall in love with dancing.”
Winkleman reminded Gill that he wanted Dowden as his professional partner, and he replied saying: “She’s brilliant, plus she’s got experience with popstars, so I know I’ll be in good hands.”
Singer Toyah Willcox said her husband, the musician Robert Fripp, “burst into tears” when he found out she would be on Strictly, as he sat in the audience.
She said the King Crimson star keeps telling her how “proud” he is.
Willcox ended up with Neil Jones, while Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec were paired along with Miranda actress Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola and This Morning star Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez.
The singer, 66, said she “met Neil, and I’m in heaven”, and promised that she would be the first pensioner to “abseil through this studio”.
Also being paired was Olympian Montell Douglas with Johannes Radebe; reality star Pete Wicks partnered with Jowita Przystal; presenter and former hockey player Sam Quek ending up with Nikita Kuzmin.
Winkleman told comedian Chris McCausland that the pairing of Dianne Buswell and him were dreamy, to which he replied joking: “She is absolutely over the moon having me because she really wants November off.
“You’ve got a holiday booked, haven’t you? So she’s made-up.”
Buswell replied that her mother and father are “coming over” from Australia to watch her on the show in November.
When asked to explain how the show works, Buswell told the show’s first blind contestant: “Firstly, I am a big fan of yours. I’m so excited and honoured to be your partner.
“Secondly, I can’t answer that yet as I’m not sure myself how it’s going to work.”
Liverpool-born McCausland said: “Yes, we’re going to figure it out together. We’re going to make mistakes and have a laugh about them.
“Then we’re going to turn up here and show you all of the mistakes that we’ve learnt.”
Before this, the 47-year-old said he was not sure if he could do the competition “logistically”.
He added that he “didn’t know any of the dances”, as he is not able to watch the show, and he was unsure what he was getting himself into.
McCausland said that he had to get “the jokes” in early, as he will be gone in “three weeks”.
Also revealed so far is opera singer Wynne Evans, partnered with professional Katya Jones; singer and actor Shayne Ward becoming paired with Nancy Xu; and EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick ending up with Michelle Tsiakkas.
Ward said he “humbly” wanted to win it, and had been practising in front of the mirror.
The final pairings were revealed as follows: Former footballer Paul Merson and Karen Hauer, Olympic swimmer Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova and DIY SOS star Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk.
Dean warned the audience that he has “delicate feet” as he is not used to being on land.
He also said: “We don’t do any land stuff, no running or jumping, so I’ve never really gone against gravity in my sporting career.”
The BBC One show ended with the celebrities and their professional partners doing an ensemble routine to Liquid Gold’s Dance Yourself Dizzy.
Strictly returns next Saturday, where the first celebrity is set to be eliminated.
