It was 10, 10, 10, 10s across the board when BBC bosses announced that Great British Bake Off favourite John Whaite would partner Johannes Radebe in Strictly Come Dancing last year. Making TV history as the UK show’s first male partnership, it marked a much-needed (or, ahem, kneaded) shift in the narrative.
For all its razzle-dazzle and camp-as-tits concoction of confetti, glitter and Craig Revel Horwood’s drawn-out “Dahlings”, up until this point the series had never’s cherry-popping same-sex couplings in 2020. However, the casting didn’t land the knockout blow for representation it should have when, no fault of Nicola’s, of course, she was forced to retire from the competition early after her pro partner Katya Jones tested positive for Covid.
