Amy Dowden has insisted that Strictly Come Dancing is “not changing”, amid backlash the series is receiving over its new presenting line-up, a host of new professional dancers and a controversial celebrity cast.
Fans criticise new line-up
With celebrities including Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Will Best and Lacey Turner, fans have expressed anger over the casting. One admitted “I’m struggling to muster up excitement” while another said: “Haven’t heard of most of them. That show is so cooked.” Others have called it the “worst” line-up in the show’s history, with some warning it could be the end for Strictly.
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe are making their debut as hosts, replacing Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly after their exits last year. Despite the changes, Amy has insisted the core of the show is not changing.
Amy's Strictly vow
“We need to remember the core of Strictly is not changing,” Amy, who was the first voted out with Thomas Skinner last year, told Mail Online. She went on: “That competition, watching the celebrities learn to dance before every weekend, that's not changing and that's the heart and the reason why Strictly has been so successful for over the last two decades.
“I'm so proud to be part of that show and it's got me through the darkest of times and I'm not sure where I would be right now without Strictly.” She added: “The celebrities are so lovely and they're so good. We're in for a good series, let me tell you. I think it's gonna be one that you can't call it, it's gonna be so tight and so tough.”
New era and hopes for Blackpool
Amy previously marked the “start of a new era” as Strictly confirmed its new hosting line-up, with three presenters for the first time. She had also teased Johannes continuing to dance, after fans were left devastated at the thought he wouldn’t return to the ballroom floor in his new role.
She said on Lorraine Kelly’s ITV show: “I can’t imagine he won’t be dancing. Knowing Jo-Jo and his love for dance, I can’t see him not dancing! I obviously don’t know but it’s going to be all very exciting and the start of a new era.”
Sharing her close bond with former hosts Claudia and Tess, Amy continued: “They were there for me since I joined the show and they were for me during all my treatment and everything as well. I just think those two were massive fans of the show, they genuinely loved and watched… they were obsessed with it.”
Amy also hinted at who she’s looking for as a celebrity partner as names were being announced, when Lorraine admitted she "was not amused and not happy" last year. Lorraine had quipped: “Last year on Strictly, I was not amused and not happy because you were out first. Nothing to do with you and all to do with who you were teamed up with. This year can they just give you a really hot soapstar boyband athlete that you can mould and really let fly.”
Amy replied: “I’d love that. Have a word with them, Lorraine!” Talking about her return after her devastating breast cancer battle which she bravely documented, she went on: “Being back after everything I’ve been through, that’s a win to me. But I’d love to at least get to Blackpool, that would be lush!”
Tess and Claudia announced they were quitting Strictly last year, saying their time on the show had been “an absolute dream” but it “feels like the right time” to leave. They wrote: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.
“We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last “keep dancing” but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.
