There is one Strictly Come Dancing contestant being criminally overlooked

There are two clear frontrunners in Strictly Come Dancing already – but there should be three.

Chris McCausland and Wynne Evans are quite rightly capturing the hearts of the nation.

Chris, the first blind contestant ever on Strictly Come Dancing, is astonishing.

I don’t know what I was anticipating when he was announced as the first contestant in the line-up. I knew he’d be a laugh – he’s by far one of the best guests I’ve ever seen on Have I Got News For You – but I never in my wildest dreams expected to be moved to tears watching him masterfully trot around the dancefloor with footwork I could never hope to achieve in my wildest dreams.

He’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to Strictly Come Dancing. Conveniently, he’s also come at a time when the show needed him most, distracting fans from recent controversies of sacked pro Graziano di Prima allegedly kicking his partner Zara McDermott and the investigation in Giovanni Pernice’s treatment of Amanda Abbington, which was resolved this week.

And then there’s Wynne Evans, better known until now as ‘the Go Compare ad’ man.

Some viewers will be familiar with his charm after watching him win Celebrity MasterChef last year, no doubt the reason he was handpicked by Strictly bosses to add some flair to this year’s line-up.

He epitomises everything wonderful about Strictly. He’s a laugh, doesn’t take himself too seriously and he might not be the best dancer but he’s better than you’d expect him to be.

If this Strictly Come Dancing will be remembered for one thing, already it feels like one of the most fun series we’ve had in years, largely down to those two. Even at this very early stage I would safely bet on both of them being in the final – mark my words.

But there’s one contestant who isn’t getting the flowers she deserves and that contestant is Gladiators star Montell Douglas.

Most Strictly fans probably weren’t familiar with Montell before she took to the dancefloor – but they should be.

She’s an Olympian and former British record holder for 100 meters and is one of only two athletes in the world to have competed in both the Summer and winter Olympics after taking up bobsleighing in 2016 then representing Team GB just six years later.

Why that wasn’t celebrated more in itself is a mystery but then she became known to millions as Fire when Gladiators defied the odds and returned to huge fanfare at the beginning of 2024.

Gladiators was a huge gamble for the BBC. Capturing the magic of the ITV series, which was one of the most successful primetime Saturday TV shows of the 90s felt like an impossible task, but against many critics’ better judgement – myself included – the BBC nailed it.

Sure, the Gladiators format is a winner – the games are colossal in scope and the competition is a challenge like nothing else on TV. But it’s the cast that make it TV gold, with personalities as large as their biceps.

Fire is one of the most popular Gladiators too. As godfather and uncle to several very young Gladiators fans, and I can guarantee if you ask kids who their favourite Gladiators are most of them will include Fire.

But her impressive track record alone shouldn’t be the reason she should be celebrated more on Strictly – her quite literally bring the fire (no pun intended) to the dancefloor like no one else on there is he reason should be.

Personally, I feel anyone who brings niche Eurovision bop Fuego to Strictly deserves the Glitterball already but no one looked like they were having a better time on that dancefloor all night in week two than Montell.

And then there’s her chemistry with partner Johannes Radebe. Pairing a contestant with the energy of Tina Turner with the undisputed queen of Strictly, Johannes, is a stroke of genius that, should it keep going in the campest direction possible, could make her the one to watch.

And tonight, everything about their performance hits that brief. For Movie Week they’ll be dancing a Tango to One Night Only from Dreamgirls – the only thing that could make it much camper is replacing the Strictly band with Beyoncé herself.

Granted it’s only been two weeks but if Montell and Johannes pull off the diva performance that gays like me are gagging for, she should be the name on everyone’s lips.

Johannes’ choreography is second-to-none and every single contestant he’s ever worked with has shone brighter because of his grace and generosity. Every year with every contestant without fail, he looks at them with such genuine pride it’s impossible not to root for him.

In Montell he’s found his perfect match.

There might be better technical dancers out there like Tasha Ghouri – who the contestant bookies have down as the one to beat – but I know already Montell and Johannes are the couple I’ll be looking forward to the most each week.

Strictly Come Dancing has never been a contest on technical ability, and if it was, Johannes would have lifted the Glitterball trophy with John Whaite in 2022 already.

It’s as much of a contest judged on likeability as it is fancy footwork and right now Chris and Wynne are quite rightly winning the race to the Glitterball trophy on both counts. But for me Montell is right behind them being criminally overlooked by the judges and viewers.

It’s time everyone started paying attention. For me, she’s looking like she could be worthy of a spot in the final – and that’s how she should be talked about too.

Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight at 6.25pm on BBC One.