Strictly Come Dancing celebrities can never truly be prepared for the technical challenges that lie before them, argues head judge Shirley Ballas.
As the 2023 competition nears its start date, the casting of Angela Scanlon and Layton Williams has resurrected the show's regular 'fix' claims, due to the TV presenter and actor's experiences in the West End musical scene.
Shirley, 62, told The Mirror: "I think it’s very unfair at this point to single out anybody, because most children had a little bit of training.
"If somebody goes to stage school for singing and acting, there’s always normally a little bit of dance included. It might not be their forte. It’s nothing like learning ballroom dancing. It’s a total discipline all of its own."
Further along, the 'Queen of Latin' explained how even some of the professional choreographers will need to adjust to a brand-new set of skills.
"If you take a jazz dancer, they dance on their own, they do their thing, unless they’re in a group. You take ballroom dancing, you really have to learn to dance with a partner – that’s four arms, four legs, two heads, two quarters… you’ve got to be intertwined and working together," noted Shirley.
At the time of her Strictly announcement, 39 year old Angela suggested to fans that she'd "never done any of these dances in my life, bar a drunken jive at a family wedding".
Perhaps forecasting the public blowback, the Irish native added: "So, it certainly feels like there is room to learn and to really push myself. Look, I’m not particularly fit. I’ve no idea how my pelvic floor is going to react to that level of jumping."
22 years ago, she trained as a dancer at the O'Shea Irish Dance Company before moving onto the Irish Thunder dance show in Virginia.
Bad Education star Layton, 28, played both Billy Elliot and a young Michael Jackson on stage.
Those two aren't the only Class of '23 participants to have caused a stir with their dancing background, either, with Downton Abbey's Nigel Harman and Emmerdale's Adam Thomas histories being brought into question.
The latter's wife Caroline founded the ABCD Dance school in Altrincham just two years ago, so you can imagine that her 35 year old husband might've busted out a few moves.
Addressing his Strictly involvement over on Instagram this summer, the soap star, who is battling a chronic illness, wrote: "Well the news is finally out. I do not know what I have gotten myself into as I cannot dance to save my life as you'll probably find out sooner or later. But you know what, I have been wanting to do this show for so many years now and I cannot believe it is finally happening."
Seemingly aiming to blunt any 'fix' speculation, Adam went on to state he "cannot wait" to get on the dancefloor and "show you how I cannot dance to save my life".
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on Saturday, 23 September
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