Two weeks ago, I was sat watching the Strictly results show. Emeli Sande was performing her hit ‘Shine’ and like usual the professional dancers were performing alongside the guest singer. Except it was not like usual because, for the first time in the show’s history, an individual same-sex dance was danced. Johannes Radebe and his good friend and fellow professional Graziano di Prima performed an emotive, powerful dance to Sande’s hit song. I squealed with joy when I realised the two men were dancing alongside each other, so thrilled that at last, we were seeing same-sex representation on the long-running show.

The dance has received an enormous amount of praise and both dancers have been sharing messages of support from their fans across their social media. Johannes, who is from South Africa said ‘I’ve never felt so liberated. For the first time in my life, I feel accepted for who I am. That says so much about the people of this country.’ There has been growing pressure from fans of Strictly Come Dancing and other entertainment shows to feature same-sex couples so this is definitely a step in the right direction. Dancing on Ice will feature its first same-sex couple competing in next year’s show after Steps’ Ian ‘H’ Watkins requested to be partnered with a male partner so perhaps Strictly will follow suit next year.

However, although there are widespread calls about the need for same-sex couples to increase representation in these shows, there are some boundaries that must be overcome first. To start with, a lot of the dances have clear male and female roles which the judges like to highlight when they are commenting on the dances. For example, during the same show that Johannes and Graziano danced together, Michelle Visage performed a Paso Doble with her partner Giovanni Pernice. Pernice had created some innovative choreography where for some of the dance, Michelle assumed the ‘matador’ role, a role normally reserved for the male dancer. 

The dance was well received by the judges, however, head judge Shirley Ballas commented that she ‘actually liked that it had this look towards each other but was not overdone so I still felt that you kept a feminine aspect about your Paso Doble.’ Obviously, these are good comments. However, they suggest that the traditional feminine and masculine roles remain very important to the judges. There are ways around this, of course; a same-sex couple could still perform the masculine and feminine roles. However, if same-sex couples are forced to conform to the traditional gendered roles, is there any point? The idea that same-sex couples would need to continue to represent a man and woman in a dance totally defeats the objective of increasing representation. 

Of course, there are the more obvious hurdles for shows like Strictly to face when trying to increase representation. The BBC reported that some have said Strictly’s viewer rating could fall if they introduced same-sex couples to the main competition. However, Strictly has made a step in the right direction so it does not look like the producers are taking much notice of these viewers. 

Ultimately, I think the show should be stripped back to its premise. A celebrity with no dance experience partnered with a professional dancer who will hopefully be transformed into an incredible dancer as the series progresses. In my opinion, shows like Strictly need to get to the point where the identity of the contestants is irrelevant and people from all areas of society can feel represented. As for the viewers who oppose such a change, we need to continue to work towards combating these seemingly outdated attitudes so everyone can feel accepted and represented.