Strictly Come Dancing producers are open for same-sex couples to enter the competition from next year. The show will introduce both, heterosexual and same sex couples. The decision is well received by viewers of the series and the public in general.
Dancing competitions have always featured heterosexual couples only, falling into the tarp of treating it as the norm. Same sex couples are still underrepresented in the media industry even though there is an increase in acknowledgment and TV and film characters that identify as queer. The way sexuality has been treated on screen has definitely changed over the years but as this show proves that not all platforms have opened their doors for equal opportunity and representation. The question in the matter is why the BBC not considered this as an issue before. The BBC opened up about the subject saying:
‘Strictly Come Dancing is an inclusive show and we are proud to have featured same sex dancing amongst the professional dancers in the group numbers in previous years.’
‘We are completely open to the prospect of including same sex pairings between our celebrities and professional dancers in the future, should the opportunity arise’.
-BBC spokesperson
A DUP politician opened up about the change saying it could ‘ruin it for family viewing’. Jim Wells (DUP) claimed he would stop watching the show if they included same-sex couples. The MLA for South Down argued that families want to sit down and watch something that won’t be challenging’ failing to consider that the number of LGBT families has grown exponentially in the UK. There was a 50% increase in gay adoption between 2005 and 2011. One in 20 children are now adopted by same sex couples. Families are more complex then ever. A family can be a formed by single parent and a child, by two parents, by grandparents, by two moms, two dads, by a mom and a dad. The MLA for South Down is worried about the ‘challenges’ that families formed by heterosexual couples ‘face’ while watching TV and not all families as he claimed in the statement above.
The change is a possibility not a certainty. Â The BBC claimed to be open to the idea but did not confirm same-sex couples in next years competition as a fact. The viewers might just have to wait and see what the show will present in the following years.
