Strictly's mostly male line-up defended by BBC: 'It's never been about ticking boxes'
This year's line-up features nine male celebrities and six female celebrities.
As Strictly Come Dancing marks its 20th anniversary, this year's newly announced line-up has come in for some criticism, with viewers noting the proportion of men to women featured.
While there are nine male celebrities set to take to the dancefloor this year, there are just six female celebrities taking part, with one fan writing on X: "The gender imbalance on #Strictly this year isn't great. That, mixed in with the recent controversy, isn't the best start to the 20th year..."
However, the BBC has defended the line-up, with a spokesperson telling RadioTimes.com: "We are really excited about this year's line-up and look forward to the series starting.
"There are many factors that influence the casting process to ensure we have a good mix of celebrities from a broad range of backgrounds. There is no hard and fast rule regarding the gender split on the show and it's never been about ticking boxes."
Those taking part in this year's season of Strictly are Chris McCausland, JB Gill, Wynne Evans, Toyah Willcox, Punam Krishan, Tasha Ghouri, Pete Wicks and Shayne Ward.
The line-up is rounded out by Sarah Hadland, Montell Douglas, Tom Dean, Jamie Borthwick, Nick Knowles, Sam Quek and Paul Merson.
As is often the case, some of this year's stars have been met with a backlash and social media users have cited their previous dance experience.
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One of those criticised was Love Island star Ghouri, who defended taking part in the show when speaking on KISS.
She said: "I've not danced for quite a few years – since Love Island, my career is so different. It's such a different dance style, I may actually not be good at it, like ballet – I'm not good at ballet. I'm trained in commercial street style. It's going to be very hard but I'm excited for a challenge."
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Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.
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