Strictly Come Dancing sparks backlash with ‘disappointing and upsetting’ male outfits

Strictly Come Dancing came back with a bang on Saturday as 15 new celebrity faces took to the floor – but not everyone was happy.

The latest se3asonof the long-running BBC dance competition – celebrating its 20th anniversary this year – fully got under way at the weekend.

Top of the leaderboard after one dance is JLS singer JB Gill, who sits above everyone else on 31 points after his emotional waltz with Amy Dowden.

Just below him are Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri and Miranda actress Sarah Hadland, who are both on 30 after receiving impressive scores from the four judges.

Meanwhile, languishing at the bottom are 80s popstar Toyah Wilcox and former footballer Paul Merson, who find themselves on 12 and 17 points respectively.

And viewers at home aren’t happy with what they believe is the true reason for Paul being so far down the leaderboard: ‘stupid, gimmicky outfits.’

The criticism of the show’s outfit choices appeared to come after former Arsenal star Paul and DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles had danced their numbers.

On Reddit, @KingPudsey said: ‘Why do they always give the male celebs, who may not be the best dancers, stupid, gimmicky outfits and themes?’

They continued: ‘The female celebs who may not be great dancers get beautiful dresses and are presented more seriously. I feel like it skews public perception.’

And other viewers concurred, with @BeanOnAJourney adding: ‘It’s becoming predictable and quite tedious at this point. They’re not there to be made a mockery of, I think it’s upsetting and very disappointing.

‘The opportunity to learn to dance – the very reason they are there – is denied them in favour of stupid stereotypical gimmicks.’

@EntertainmentOK6284 complained: ‘I totally agree! The older male celebs all have potential! Give them a good song and a great outfit and they will have a chance to shine.’

Meanwhile, @ShineAtom was annoyed not just with Paul’s outfit but with the song choice too, as he danced to football anthem Vindaloo by Fat Les.

‘I find those work-related costumes, music and dances to be a complete and utter fail. They are so annoying.

‘Dancing an alleged American Smooth to a song I find irritating at the best of times, and in the worst costumes of the show, was unenjoyable at best.’

Of the 15 dancers competing this year, nine of them are male celebs. In week one, those nine male celebs scored an average of 22.1 points from head judge Shirley Ballas and her team.

For the six female celebrities on the floor this weekend, they averaged 23.3 points from Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton De Beke, and Shirley, despite Toyah’s low score of 12.

@Chosty55 worried that ‘men of a certain age’ would be put off learning to dance, while @Empty_Variety4550 wondered if this was the legacy of John Sergeant’s time on Strictly many years ago.

On the other hand, @Sah10406 believed things would calm down: ”It’s an early weeks thing. Maximise what they can do, disguise what they can’t do, and meanwhile work on their basic skills for some serious dancing later on.’

While overall viewing figures for Strictly’s opening night are down on 2023 and the peak of over 10 million in 2020, the news isn’t all bad.

As confirmed to by the BBC, Strictly, which aired from 7pm until 9:30pm, averaged 6.4million viewers last night. The show peaked at 6.6 million.

It also acquired a huge audience share of 49.4, and figures are expected to rise in the coming days as Strictly devotees catch up and re-watch via BBC iPlayer.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to the BBC for comment.