Strictly head judge says same-sex dance routine is ‘most magnificent thing she’s witnessed’
Strictly pros Johannes Radebe and Graziano Di Prima. (Johannes Radebe/ Instagram)
Two Strictly Come Dancing pros will perform the show’s first one-on-one same-sex dance this weekend, and head judge Shirley Ballas has said it’s “magnificent”.
Johannes Radebe and his Coronation Street star dance partner Catherine Tyldesley were voted off as contestants last week, but Radebe will be back to perform the dance with his fellow pro and close friend Graziano Di Prima.
Ballas told the Evening Standard: “Have your tissues. It’s the most magnificent thing I witnessed in rehearsals.
“Johannes brings just such a wonderful joy of dance and Graziano just envelopes the whole experience.
“So it truly is something that will melt your heart for sure. [It is] 100% something that people have to look forward to.”
Di Prima was not partnered with a celebrity for this series, and said that he feels “lucky” to have the opportunity to perform a history-making dance.
He said: “It’s so much fun – you’ll see it. It really is the best feeling ever because we are really close friends, he’s going to be my best man at my wedding in July.
“I’m so happy for this opportunity. I’m so lucky that they chose me and him together.”
Radebe already made history in last week’s show when he performed a voguing-inspired routine and became the first male pro in the show’s history to dance in high heels.
He told The Sun on Monday, October 28, that this week’s same-sex number “will be one of the moments where we all sit back and go, ‘This is what we’ve been waiting for.'”
Although this weekend’s episode will be the first of its kind, Strictly Come Dancing is yet to feature same-sex dance partners as contestants.
The show has already been beaten on the inclusivity front by its ITV rival Dancing On Ice, which announced that Steps singer Ian ‘H’ Watkins would be the first celebrity contestant paired with a skater of the same gender when the show returns in 2020.
