Strictly expert predicts dreaded 'curse' will strike one particular couple in new series

A Strictly Come Dancing insider has revealed details about the notorious "curse" that appears to plague the BBC competition.

This year, a brand new lineup of 15 celebrities are preparing to take to the dance floor, with the pre-recorded launch show airing on Saturday.

The star-studded roster includes Gladiators legend Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Love Island winner Dani Dyer, Hollywood's Alex Kingston and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. They'll be accompanied by EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal, George Clarke, RuPaul's Drag Race UK's La Voix, Chris Robshaw and model Ellie Goldstein.

Completing the lineup are divisive Apprentice figure Thomas Skinner, Vicky Pattison, Neighbours' Stefan Dennis, Ross King and former footballer Karen Carney. Lewis Cope is meanwhile replacing Kristian Nairn who was forced to withdraw due to health concerns.

Each year, Strictly faces persistent rumours of a supposed curse, referring to the trend of celebrities finishing long-standing relationships and beginning affairs with their professional dancing partners.

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Famous instances include comedian Seann Walsh, who was photographed snogging Katya Jones in 2018, despite both being involved with others at the time - Katya was wed to fellow Strictly professional Neil Jones.

Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton also confirmed their romance following the series, though they denied suggestions of any romantic connection whilst the show was filming. Ben Cohen brought his 11-year marriage to Abby to an end following his appearance on Strictly with Kristina Rihanoff, with whom he now shares a daughter. Nevertheless, he refuted claims that his marriage collapsed due to his connection with Kristina.

Meanwhile, Dianne Buswell and Joe Sugg have revealed the thrilling news that they're expecting their first child together, having initially met on Strictly back in 2018. Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev, who were matched on the programme in 2013, are also now raising two children. Last year, rumours swirled about Pete Wicks and his dance partner Jowita Pryzstal, though neither acknowledged anything beyond a platonic bond.

And it's probable this year will follow suit, with viewers keenly wondering whether the notorious "curse" has taken hold once the professional partners and celebrity pairings are revealed.

Dr Kathryn Stamp, a dance researcher, educator and Assistant Professor at the Centre for Dance Research, who specialises in inclusive dance, dance education and dance and health, has now offered her perspective on whether there's any substance to these assertions.

She explained: "The people that this 'curse' has been spoken about, you can track back to where there's been nothing that's come from it and there'll be people for whom something did come out of it.

"It's something that just gets applied but there's no consistency in terms of the reality of it, and the reality is different for everyone. We just have to be careful with talking about people's lives and people's children and things like that. It's similar to certain stereotypes like sports people being good or bad at dancing and things like that, there's no consistency."

She went on to say: "Dance is a social activity, particularly Latin and Ballroom, you're in a partnership, but you can absolutely have platonic relationships as part of the partnership. [The curse] is a bit of a nothing for me, because it's so individual to the lives of everyone."

Discussing the show's line-up, she remarked: "It's really varied, and it happens every year when the line-up comes out, you've got people cheering for certain people and then people on the other side going, 'I don't know any of these people', but that's kind of the point, you'll only know these people if you're linked to their area.

"The point is we're meant to connect with different people in society, the different members of the public who are meant to represent different things.

"It's a really interesting line-up and part of what is interesting is that before Strictly, we only know from the line-up what they've previously done, whereas we all go on a journey together with them, I like to think, but they go on a journey as a group through Strictly and we learn so much more about them.

"Different topics come up and we learn about their lives and about their families and their way of doing things, so I think it's a really exciting line-up because there might be people you don't know as well or you've not seen for a while but we get to see what they're up to now and learn about them, which is part of the interest for me."

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