Strictly Come Dancing contestant Bethany Antonia has revealed how she copes with the pressure of facing multiple dance-offs this season. The House of the Dragon actress and her professional partner, Nancy Xu, have faced two dance-offs so far, including a controversial triple dance-off during Halloween week.
Despite the setbacks, Antonia insists they pay no attention to outside noise, even when betting odds suggest they could be eliminated next. 'We are hilariously offline. It's painful,' she told Metro, adding that it makes the process feel 'so much more intimate.'
Staying in the Strictly Bubble
Antonia, 28, explained that not even the Halloween triple dance-off fazed her, as she and Nancy were simply excited to perform again. 'We loved that dance so much, and we had such a good time. We were so locked in on how much fun we had, so having to do it again was just like, "OK!"' she said.
The pair are keeping the experience as 'inward' as possible for now. 'When we finish, there'll be plenty of time to go back and read everything, but while we're in it, it's just about us in those 90 seconds of a routine, and it feels like something that needs to be cherished and kept close,' Antonia shared.
Nancy agreed, saying: 'The competition is already very physically challenging, so we are choosing which direction we want to look. Just like coming back from a dance-off, we can choose to also think about the negativity, or we can choose to cherish something beautiful.'
Pride in Same-Sex Representation
Antonia, who came out as gay in 2024, said it's 'really special' to dance in a same-sex couple, following in the footsteps of duos like John Whaite and Johannes Radebe and Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin. 'Just being here feels like we've already won,' she said.
'Being in the space and not necessarily being there loudly is sometimes more effective and useful than making a big song and dance about it – literally – and to me, it feels like this is exactly what I wanted the process to be like,' she added.
Her allyship with the LGBTQ+ community has been a talking point this season, especially when she wore a 'Protect the Dolls' T-shirt to express solidarity with trans women. The phrase was edited out of the BBC broadcast, which the corporation attributed to 'standard practice on any entertainment show' of taking 'appropriate steps to reduce the inclusion of any overt branding or slogans.'
Nancy's Impact and Looking Ahead
Antonia praised Nancy's gentle encouragement, saying: 'There have been so many occasions where she's shown me a move or an idea, and because I am maybe scared of it or don't feel like I can do it, my instinct is, "It's not perfect, so we shouldn't do it". And her gentle encouragement to just do it anyway, because it might look bad, but if you do it enough times, maybe it'll start to look good. To see that in real time has really changed me in a way that I think I'm gonna treasure forever.'
Nancy hailed Antonia's 'strength,' saying: 'I have seen so much strength grow from this girl. She's amazing. You see people change after the show, but it's so rare to see people starting to learn something from themselves and growing during the programme.'
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
