It’s been barely two months since wildlife journalist Hamza Yassin lifted the glitterball trophy with his dance partner Jowita Przystal and the final tour date of the Strictly Come Dancing live show is coming up this weekend, but already speculation about who could be taking part in the 2023 series is underway.
This is certainly early by usual standards, but it’s for good reason. According to the Daily Mail, the show is planning on featuring it’s first wheelchair using contestant. It follows Strictly's commitment to an inclusive line-up in previous series, with the likes of Paralympian Ellie Simmonds last yearand deaf actor Rose Ayling-Ellis (who won alongside Giovanni Pernice in 2021) taking to the dancefloor.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Strictly has included wheelchair users in its spectacular live performances; in 2018, dancers from the inclusive dance group Candoco Dance Company performed with professionals to David Bowie’s iconic Life on Mars, including wheelchair users, to stunning effect.
But unlike the positive reaction that Rose and Ellie received during their time on the show, the comments on tabloid media sites reporting the news have come with a sour-tasting side order of ableism.
‘There are no words really. Talk about woke. Although I suppose we already have people without a brain on Celebrity Mastermind,’ reads one cruel comment, and another says, ‘Being deaf or small is completely different to being in a wheelchair.’
The glaring prejudice has been highlighted by wheelchair using ballerina and the owner of an inclusive dance school Kate Stanforth, who posted a screenshot of one particularly horrible comment.
Kate wrote, ‘t’s been announced that @bbcstrictly are going to have a wheelchair user this year. I’ve just sat, honestly close to tears, as I’ve scrolled through the ableist comments about how wheelchair users are not welcome on the programme but also in general society.’
In spite of the rhetoric on right wing news sites, the social media platform was flooded with messages of support for Kate and the wheelchair using community. One comment read, ‘It’s a minor point but the number of people saying “the lifts are going to be hard” makes me worry about Britain’s education system. These people genuinely think wheelchair users are 'bound' to the chair. Pretty sure the pro will lift the celeb, not them and their bloody wheels.’
Another wrote, ‘Thank you @bbcstrictly if this is the case. Disabled people need disability represented on television so we have role models. What talent if a contestant can control a wheelchair gracefully, as if they were dancing. To all the ableist commentators, disabled is NOT a dirty word!’
BBC have yet to confirm the rumours, but they’ve certainly not been shy of putting their money where their mouth is over the last couple of years when it comes to doing their bit for representation and inclusion. And while we wait to see whether or not it turns out to be true, shall we get the bets in on who the wheelchair-using celeb might actually be?