Strictly Come Dancing is ‘teaching the world inclusivity’ with same-sex partnerships-Danni Scott-Entertainment – Metro

Johannes Radebe has praised Strictly for its world-leading inclusivity (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

Beloved BBC show Strictly Come Dancing continues to be a beacon of inclusivity with its same-sex dance partners and even the professionals are impressed.

Last year saw Layton Williams storming all the way to the final with Nikita Kuzmin, in the fifth same-sex pairing ever seen on the long-running competition.

Johannes Radebe, who danced his way to fourth place with Annabel Croft, has praised the show for being ‘progressive’ and teaching the world.

‘I think Strictly is one the shows that shows the entire world how [to be] progressive in terms of inclusion,’ he shared.

In series 19, Johannes had been paired with chef John Whaite in the first all-male couple, losing out to Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice in the final.

Speaking to RadioTimes, the choreographer added: ‘I’m proud to be a part of an establishment that recognises that it takes all sorts to make the world go round and they’re great.’

This year saw Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin paired up and nearly take the crown (Picture: PA)

Johannes nearly lifted the Glitterball trophy with John Whaite (Picture: BBC)

This year Strictly has been slightly overshadowed by the stars’ personal issues, including Amy Dowden’s cancer battle and the drama between Amanda Abbington and Giovanni.

However, the continued efforts to platform the LGBTQ+ community have been widely praised by viewers for many years now.

Johannes added: ‘We are the ones that are teaching the world, so honestly so far I’m happy!’

In 2020, professional dancer Katya Jones made history as part of the first-ever same-sex couple with Nicola Adams, although there was some pushback at the time.

The following year proved this wasn’t a one-time show of solidarity as Johannes and John were paired, with the Bake Off star sharing: ‘The reaction has been so positive.’

Katya Jones and Nicola Adams were hit with complaints before they had even danced together for the first time (Picture: BBC)

Despite backlash, Strictly continued to support same-sex dance partnerships (Picture: PA)

The show has included at least one same-sex couple every year since 2020 (Picture: PA)

He continued at the time: ‘I’m doing the first all-male partnership, I genuinely did think that I was going to receive a fair bit of hate because you do as a gay man, you get a lot of hate. You grow up and learn to deal with it, you shouldn’t have to, but we do.

‘Little kids who watch the show, to have same-sex role models will give them a little bit of hope for the future and it won’t make them grow up with the same shame that I grew up with.’

The next year the show introduced both Richie Anderson and Giovanni, and Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer as same-sex dancing duos.

Strictly has been praised by the likes of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, who previously told Metro.co.uk: ‘We can’t be what we can’t see.

‘Seeing two same-sex dancers delight viewers throughout this series will mean so much to LGBTQ+ people across the country.’ 

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