Strictly Come Dancing Stars Face Fix Row Over Experience

BBC show Strictly Come Dancing has become embroiled in a fresh fix row after reports claimed nine of its 15 celebrities have past dance experience.

The Sun reports that with nine out of the 15 celebrities having past experience, 60 per cent of the cast will have an advantage over their fellow competitors. Throughout the years, the BBC dancing show has come under fire for signing up stars who have some form of dancing or performance history, and it appears that this year is no different if new reports are to go by.

An insider told the publication: "There is no rule that celebrities cannot have dance experience before taking part and it would be near impossible to find a cast of celebrities who have no previous dance experience as many people in the entertainment industry go to stage school."

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives of Strictly Come Dancing for comment.

Celebrities With Previous Dance Training

Among those who have dance or performing arts experience, Emmerdale star Lawrence Robb was a former pupil at The Dance School of Scotland for two years. He then went on to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before making appearances in the West End.

Prior to appearing on Love Island, Cach Mercer worked as a professional dancer with a specialism in Hip-hop and Afrobeats. Fellow Love Island winner Dani Dyer was quoted as calling herself a 'qualified dancer' in her 2019 autobiography, having attended O'Farrell's Stage School in East London on weekends for 12 years as a child.

EastEnders star Lacey Turner also had experience in her younger years, attending Sylvia Young Theatre School. As a child, singer Delta Goodrem had lessons in dancing, singing and acting.

Jaime Winstone did a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts at Harlow College, Essex, with the course covering dancing, musical theatre and production. Another star with educational experience includes House of the Dragon's Bethany Antonia, who attended the BOA Creative, Digital and Performing Arts Academy in Birmingham where she studied musical theatre.

Gavin and Stacey favourite Melanie Walters, who has yet to be officially announced, starred in the Cinderella pantomime as the Fairy Godmother, treading the boards of the Bournemouth Pavilion during last year's festive season. Back in 2012, presenter and best-selling author Graeme 'The Dogfather' Hall took part in a dance competition called 'Strictly Northampton'.

Strictly 2026 Lineup and Viewer Reaction

So far, 12 of the reported 15 celebrities have been announced by the BBC, with Emmerdale's Lawrence being the latest to join the line-up.

Lawrence joins Lacey, Dani, Delta, Chris Appleton, Cach, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime, Bethany, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Graeme in the 2026 Strictly Come Dancing line-up.

While some Emmerdale fans were excited by the latest news, the general consensus has been that a lot of people have struggled to recognise many of the names in the line-up.

Professional Dancers Begin Rehearsals

Elsewhere, the returning Strictly professional dancers shared a glimpse inside day one of rehearsals for the 2026 series on Instagram. Amy Dowden, Dianne Buswell and Jowita Przystal are among the stars returning to the dancefloor this year after the BBC show underwent a major shake-up.

The stars were also joined by returning pro Carlos Gu, 33, who scooped the coveted Glitterball Trophy with footballer Karen Carney. As well as Katya Jones, Kai Widdrington, Aljaz Skorjanec, Lauren Oakley, Nancy Xu, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Alexis Warr, Julian Caillon and Vito Coppola.

Five new faces were recently announced to the pro line-up, months after the Strictly axe 'bloodbath' saw bosses ditch stars Michelle Tsiakkas, Karen Hauer, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Gorka Marquez.

Making their Strictly dancer debut this Autumn will be Ukrainian Aleksandra Isaeva, Italian hunk Cristian Priori, South African latin champion Lethabo Monametsi as well as Canadian dancer Mark Karmalita and UK National Ballroom Champion Maddie Ingoldsby.