The official Strictly Come Dancing 2025 line-up of professional dancers has revealed that not one of the regulars has been dropped, despite rumours. But Giovanni Pernice, who quit the show at the start of last year amid the controversy surrounding his partnership with Amanda Abbington in 2023, has not made a comeback, despite the Italian hoping he’d be allowed to return.
Reports in recent months suggesting that favourites ranging from Johannes Radebe to Karen Hauer and Katya Jones would be shunted off the hit BBC1 show turned out to be wide of the mark. Karen, 42, is the longest serving Strictly dancer of the current pro line up, and she returns for her fourteenth series despite suggestions she was being dropped in an ageism row.
And it’s also good news for Amy Dowden, who returned last year after battling breast cancer but was forced to quit her partnership with JLS singer JB Gill after sustaining a foot injury. This year’s line-up is almost exactly the same as last year’s, which was released last spring after Pernice had announced his decision to leave.
The only difference is that Graziano di Prima is not on it, after he was dropped ahead of last year’s series over his treatment of previous partner Zara McDermott.
His replacement, returning favourite Aljaž Škorjanec, is now in the starting line-up and two new dancers are yet to be hired. With 10 females on the list and only eight males, it is likely that the new hirings will both be blokes. The women are Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal, Nancy Xu, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.
Their male counterparts are Vito Coppola, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Marquez, Johannes Radebe, Aljaž Škorjanec, Kai Widdrington and Carlos Gu.
Since leaving the UK show, Pernice moved to the Italian version, Ballando con le Stelle, which he won. The dancer, close pals with Anton du Beke and Shirley Ballas, hoped that a review of his conduct, amid complaints made by Abbington, would clear his name. But while he was “vindicated” when it came to any physical aggression, the actress’s complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld, and the BBC apologised to her.
Normally there are a total of 15 celebrity contestants on Strictly, meaning five professional dancers are left without partners and instead take a major part in the group numbers.
Yesterday the show’s executive producer Sarah James said: “The excitement is already building ahead of the new series and in addition to welcoming back our fantastic returning pros, we are looking forward to welcoming two brand new professional dancers to the line up who will help bring another unforgettable series of dazzling dance and loads more besides to viewers later in 2025.”
BBC entertainment boss Kalpna Patel-Knight added: “The Strictly Professional Dancers are the beating heart of the programme, showcasing to viewers in every corner of the UK their world class talent by lighting up the famous Strictly ballroom every Saturday and Sunday night. Here’s to another fab-u-lous series!”
It was claimed last year that five pro dancers were set to leave the show, with Nadiya Bychkova, Neil Jones and Gorka Marquez also named as potential candidates to go.
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