With only six women rumoured to be in its line-up, the 22nd season of Strictly Come Dancing has reportedly marked a sad first in the show's history as it will include the fewest female stars. Gladiators star Montell Douglas aka Fire and Miranda actress Sarah Hadland were the latest celebrities tipped to have signed up for the BBC One competition in another alleged official list said to have been leaked before the official announcements were to be finalised. If their participations are confirmed, Montell, 38, and Sarah, 53, would bring the total number of female celebrity dancers on the programme to six, while nine men are said to be taking part in the series set to premiere later this year.
While the full line-up has yet to be confirmed, one insider has suggested that the abuse allegations targeting both professional dancers Graziano Di Prima and Giovanni Pernice have had an impact on the recruitment for Strictly 2024. The source told The Sun : "Looking at the figures, it’s hard to see how the ongoing controversy over bullying could not have affected the recruitment process for this year’s Strictly. At no point in the show’s history has there been such a small proportion of women.
" Strictly Come Dancing bosses have pulled out all the stops for the programme's 20th anniversary but as Graziano was sacked and Giovanni faces an internal probe, the bullying crisis at the Beeb has considerably overshadowed the festivities. "It probably wasn’t the landmark number they wanted, given the show is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The most serious claims of abuse and bullying have involved male pros and their treatment of female celebrity dance partners", the insider added.
In another breath, the source suggested that the lack of women in the line-up had been easy to predict: "There were signs that there might be fewer women celebs taking part, one of which was the fact Graziano wasn’t replaced by another male pro on the show, but it’s still something of a shock to see." Overall, this would mean that "the odds are against a woman making it to the final stages of the competition." In April 2024, and despite being in talks with bosses for this year's series, Giovanni faced serious allegations of misconduct behind the Strictly scenes and it was revealed he wouldn't be taking part in the upcoming season.
The climax of months of tension as his former dance partner Amanda Abbington had requested the footage of her training sessions with the dancer in January, 2024. Giovanni had already defended his training style during an appearance on The One Show claiming he was a "perfectionist" , prompting him to double down by denying all the allegations weighing against him. In late May, 2024, he was then revealed to be at the core of an internal probe, after reports that Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh - all of which were once his dance partners on the Strictly dancefloor - had discussed their respective experiences with Giovanni.
Graziano Di Prima was then dropped from the series, leaving his former Strictly partner Zara McDernott to reveal she had also gone through a gruelling time in the training room and a spokesman for the dancer confirmed he had once kicked the former Love Island star. "There is never a time when kicking, or any sense of that is right," Mark Borkowski told BBC News on July 18, 2024. "And he knows that.
He knows he's made a mistake. He apologised at the time." Since then, a third professional has been named a "person of interest" in the investigation into the BBC's rehearsals.
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads ..
