Trivia / Strictly Come Dancing

• The Cast Showoff:
  • Matt Baker, one of the contestants in 2010, is a trained gymnast and competed for Britain when he was younger. Over the course of the series he did 2 cartwheels, 3 consecutive backflips and a back somersault off the judges' desk (although this wasn't to compensate for being a poor dancer - he was one of the frontrunners of the competition and ultimately came second). Oh, and he can also ride a unicycle.
  • Louis Smith, the winner of Series 10, is an Olympic gymnast, and they certainly make use of his abilities in his routines.
  • Comedian Bill Bailey, winner of Series 18, plays a variety of musical instruments and has perfect pitch - he got to show it off in his finale dance, where he performed a guitar solo over Queen's "The Show Must Go On".
• Content Leak: Since the results show is filmed a few hours after each episode, the information about who ended up in the dance off and who was eliminated can get leaked online many hours before the show airs. The same goes for the pre-recorded Christmas specials, whose winners can be leaked weeks in advance.
• Distanced from Current Events: The week 12 results show of the 2022 series was supposed to open with a snowflake-themed group performance, which was even advertised in the previous episode to feature Craig taking part. However, it was cut because they thought it would be in bad taste after an incident in Solihull where 4 children died after falling into an icy lake. It is currently unknown if the performance will eventually be featured in another show or posted on YouTube; at the moment all that exists of it are a few promotional photos.
• In Memoriam:
  • During the 2017 launch show, there was a dance sequence dedicated to Bruce Forsyth, who had died weeks before.
  • During the "BBC Centenary" Sunday episode, the group dance ended with a picture of Queen Elizabeth II being briefly displayed in the ballroom. The Queen had died just nine days before the original scheduled airdate of that series' launch show, which was postponed to allow for broadcast of the funeral. Coincidentally, it was on Remembrance Sunday, the UK's day of commemoration of the World Wars, and the image was of her in her WWII gear.
  • A segment of the 2023 launch show was dedicated to Len Goodman, who had died earlier that year.
• Prop Recycling: Many outfits from the show, mostly the ones worn by the female celebrities and pros, have been reused in other foreign versions of the format, such as the ones from Ireland and France.
• Release Date Change: The launch show of the 2022 series was originally going to air on 17th September, but was postponed to 23rd September (with the first episode of the competition airing the following day) due to falling too close to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
• Romance on the Set: A number of celebs have ended up in relationships with their professionals. They haven't tended to last and the "Strictly Curse" has become somewhat of a Running Gag to the British media. When Kimberley Walsh appeared on the Jonathan Ross Show to promote her season on the show, he was indignant that none of that season's contestants were having affairs.
  • Of the professional/celeb couples a few have lasted, including Flavia Cacace and Jimi Mistry who married in 2013
  • Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen live together and started a family.
  • Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez weren't originally paired with each other (Gemma was paired with Aljaz, while Gorka was paired with Alexandra Burke), but fell in love anyway and eventually started a family.
  • Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell from the 2018 series. When rumors started to circulate about them dating, especially after Dianne broke up with her boyfriend, the two were quick to deny any sort of romance, and even joked about the clickbait nature of the tabloid headlines about them on one of his vlogs. Towards the end of the series, it turned out that they did fall in love after all.
  • Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev got married and had a child together after being partners in 2013.
  • Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton became a couple after winning the 2019 series.
  • A pro/pro example: Nadiya Bychkova and Kai Widdrington started dating not long after the end of the 2021 series.

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