Graziano Benched

Graziano di Prima will not have a celebrity partner this year. He confirmed the news in Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

.♥️.

A post shared by grazιano dι prιмa (@grazianodiprima) on Aug 21, 2019 at 12:56am PDT

This year there are seven female celebrities and eight male. So as Neil is getting a celebrity, Gorka and Grazino are benched and Pasha has departed, that leaves five returning male pros from last year - Anton, AJ, Aljaž, Giovanni and Kevin. That implies that Johannes must have a partner this year.

There is an additional female pro needed this year, which means that Luba or Nancy must also get a partner this year.

Some fresh blood in the pro line-up has to be a good thing.

All will be revealed in the launch show on 7th September.

Neil In, Gorka Out?

According to The Sun, Neil Jones will finally get a partner in 2019, while Gorka Marquez will be 'benched'.

This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for Gorka, as it will give him more time to spend with his baby daughter Mia.

The paper also claims that Katya will have a celebrity partner. Rumours earlier in the year suggested that she would not have one, due to last year's incident with partner Seann Walsh.

If true, it would suggest that Luba and Joannes will also not have partners again this year, along with new pro Nancy.

No official announcement has been made.

Neil & Katya Separate

Neil & Katya Jones have announced that they are to separate.

They both posted the same news on their social media channels:

View this post on Instagram

♥️

A post shared by Katya Jones (@mrs_katjones) on Aug 18, 2019 at 7:15am PDT

I am really sorry to hear this news. I really like both of them, and it's sad to hear that they parting ways.

I suspect that this will be the end of the road for their Somnium show, which they were hoping to take on tour. The show is about their relationship, including how close to splitting they came in their competitive days. There isn't a place for it in the world now.

I do hope this doesn't make things complicated in rehearsals. Their post claims that they will stay friends. I hope that is the case, for the wellbeing of everyone involved with the show.

Celebrity No. 15: Anneka Rice

The final celebrity for Strictly 2019 is Anneka Rice. Anneka is the one your dad will like. Or possibly your granddad, depending how old you are.

Anneka is best know for being the 'sky runner' on Treasure Hunt, a popular show in the early days of Channel 4. She later followed this with Challenge Anneka for the BBC, the programme that used to make you cry the way DIY SOS does now.

She is now a presenter on Radio 2, which is probably mostly listened to by those old enough to remember the above shows.

Anneka is definitely the 'national treasure' of the group and people will be willing her to do well. But something tells me she's not going to be as good as I hope.

The Treasure Hunt theme would make an excellent tango or passo, though...

Celebrity No. 14: James Cracknell

James Cracknell is a gold medal-winning rower. Another sports person, taking this year's total to four. That sounds a lot for one series.

We've not had a rower on Strictly before, but plenty of gold medalists, including James' fellow participant Will.

James has always been quite a popular chap, and I think he'll be popular with the kinds of viewers who like Kevin Clifton. You know, the one your mum or your aunt likes. But probably not your nan. I think your nan might like Jamie.

Celebrity No. 13: Dev Griffin

Radio 1 DJ Dev Griffin is celebrity no. 13.

Having never listened to Radio 1, I am not familiar with Dev.

Playing music on the radio does not pre-dispose anyone to be able to step in time. Vic was pretty good last year, arguably hampered by some poor choreography from her partner. But on the other hand, we had Scott Mills.

Celebrity No. 12: Alex Scott

Former Arsenal and England footballer, and Match Of The Day pundit, Alex Scott will be hoping to score a perfect 10 this autumn.

This nicely sets up a little friendly footballer rivalry between her and David James. I can see nice little montages on It Takes Two. And sports people are always a safe bet on Strictly, as they are usually focused and unafraid of putting the work in. Alex could be one to watch this series.

Celebrity No. 11: Jamie Laing

Jamie Lang has joined the Strictly line-up.

Jamie is best known for appearing in Made In Chelsea, which he has been a part of for eight years. He is also the founder of Candy Kittens sweets, so he can provide everyone with an energy boost!

The extent of my knowledge about Jamie comes from a Rugby Aid match in 2015. He was an absolute trooper in that match, playing though injury and ended up being carted off to hospital after the final whistle. The man has tenacity and heart. I think he'll give Strictly everything.

Celebrity No. 10: Will Bayley

Will Bayley is a paralympic table tennis player and gold medalist. 

Will won gold in Rio, and plans to defend his title in Tokyo next year. But first, dancing!

He must be fairly nippy on his feet to play table tennis, but translating that to the dancefloor is not easy. I think participating in a year where there aren't too many big names will help him out, as he has more opportunity to win over the public with his personality. I think personality will play a big part in this year's competition.

Celebrity No. 9: Michelle Visage

Finally someone who I have heard of and can get excited about!

Michelle Visage is the ninth celebrity participating in Strictly this year.

Michelle is best known for being a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, a UK version of which just happens to be coming to BBC Three this autumn. She was also a finalist on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015 and is a judge on Ireland's Got Talent, alongside former Strictly participant Denise Van Outen.

I think Michelle will do well on Strictly. She was a member of a girl group called Seduction in her youth, and spent a lot of time in clubs, so she can throw a shape or two. She was also recently in the West End production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie, although there was little dancing beyond a bit of vogue.

It will be interesting to see how she gets on being judged, as she is a judge herself on two shows.

Celebrity No. 8: Emma Weymouth

I think we might be playing fast and loose with the word celebrity here. Shall we stick to participant?

Vicountess Emma Weymouth was announced yesterday on Gaby Roslin's BBC London show. So the announcement was buried on a Sunday on a regional station. Still there was a social media tsunami of 'Who?'s.

According to the press release, she is a businesswoman, chef, model and philanthropist. Slash unknown person to most.

She is married to Viscount Weymouth, and resides at the Longleat Estate, where she launched 'Emma's Kitchen' and has appeared on James Martin's show.

This is a really poor booking for me. We've always been given the impression that celebrities are queuing up to take part, and the BBC should be striving for household names. When literally no-one in my timeline has heard of someone, it's a bad start.

I don't blame Emma for that, and I wish her every success in the competition, but I have to question how she even gets on the long list of possible participants.

Celebrity No. 7: Karim Zeroual

CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual is the 7th celebrity to participate in 2019.

Karim definitely qualifies for 'ringer' status, with a background on the West End stage in shows like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Lion King.

I'm OK with saying that I know nothing about Karim, since I am not a child or a parent. There's no way I would have crossed paths with anything he has done on television. 

Celebrity No. 6: Mike Bushell

The man often confused with Chris Hollins, BBC Breakfast's sports presenter Mike Bushell, was announced this morning as the next celebrity to take part in 2019.

This is probably my favourite signing so far. He's a sweet chap, and I think he's going to love it. He looked excited this morning when he was revealed.

This also means I have an excuse to post one of 2018's moments of telly gold:

Good luck, Chris Mike!

Celebrity No. 5: Catherine Tyldsley

Yesterday on This Morning, former Coronation Street actor Catherine Tyldsley was announced as the fifth participant on Strictly.

I know about as much about Catherine as I do about Saffron. 

Catherine went to acting school, but doesn't appear to have done anything musical, so we'll have to wait and see if she can light up the ballroom floor. I have to admit I'm pretty indifferent about her inclusion at the moment. But I felt the same about so many participants, and by Christmas I will be smitten. Or not. Either way, I'll have an opinion!

Celebrity No. 4: Saffron Barker

The fourth celebrity announced for Strictly is YouTuber and social media influencer Saffron Barker, as announced on yesterday's Heart Breakfast show.

No, me neither.

A mere 12 months ago, I had the same reaction to Joe Sugg. But he did really well on the show, and he went on to other things like New Year's Eve on the BBC, and his upcoming theatre show with Dianne Buswell.

At 19, she's much younger than Joe, but not the youngest ever. That title still belongs to Louisa Lytton, who was 17 when she took part.

Like Joe, she'd probably going to have to work hard to prove her worth on the show. I wish her every success.

Celebrities Nos. 1, 2 and 3

The first three celebrities for Strictly Come Dancing 2019 were announced on The One Show last night.

The first celebrity is David James (right), former England goalkeeper. Unfortunately, I was introduced to David though Soccer AM in the late 1990s. His early outings for England didn't go so well, and so Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain labelled him "Dodgy keeper" and chanted the same regularly when his name came up in conversation on the show. Needless to say, that's probably what I'll be shouting at my TV for most of the series. Will he also be a dodgy dancer? He's a tall guy with a very big 'wingspan'. I can't see him being that elegant.

Next up is comedian Chris Ramsay (above centre). Chris is omnipresent on Comedy Central, where he has an eponymous show, and a regular on the panel show circuit. He revealed on The One Show that his wife is a dancer. Doesn't look as though he's going to be tearing it up on the dancefloor. His wife Rosie tweeted last night:

He dropped me on Saturday. Good luck to his next victim. 🕺🏼💃🏽😏😜 https://t.co/48Ur7mKEvc

— Rosie Ramsey (@Rosemarino) July 31, 2019

Finally, we have EastEnders actor Emma Barton. I haven't watched any soaps since the turn of the millennium, so I don't know much about her. She was quick to point out that she hasn't been on stage in ages, after Matt Baker started to stroll down Ringer Avenue last night, but she she did play Roxie Hart in a touring production of Chicago for nine months so I am sure she's no slouch.