With excitement for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing ramping up, head judge Shirley Ballas previously divulged that her dream contestant is a member of the Royal Family. The Queen of Latin eyed up rugby ace Mike Tindall, saying he would be “perfect” for the BBC One dance show.
Zara Tindall’s husband, 45, caught Shirley’s attention while he was on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! and she noticed his “shoulder lines and good posture”.
Shirley, 63, told Express.co.uk: “I've always wanted someone like Mike Tindall, I think he'd be fantastic.
“When he sat in that (I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!) jungle I thought, 'Ooh you've got nice shoulder lines, you've got good posture', a bit of Cha Cha Cha I can see that going on in those hips.
“Come on Mike, sign up! He would be the perfect candidate, he would be very, very good. He's a competitor.”
While Strictly has never featured a royal contestant, Mike’s mother-in-law Princess Anne reportedly said she wanted to be the first in a conversation with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova.
The ballroom and Latin champion revealed in April: “I met [the Princess Royal] at a ballet event. She is a Strictly fan and she wants to go on the show – she told me.
“I think she would be good – there’s a lot of personality there,” she added to The Sun.
Queen Camilla is famously a huge Strictly fan and “never misses” an episode.
Judge Anton Du Beke appeared on Lorraine’s ITV show on Wednesday in an episode filmed inside Buckingham Palace.
He said the Royal Family have “always been great fans”, adding: “It is rather splendid. It’s lovely to know that the King and the Queen are watching Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday night. If you ask of them, of course, 'We’re her favourite'. I've always been Queen Camilla’s favourite professional."
The hit series has been tipped to be one of the biggest yet as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
BBC bosses have not shared a confirmed start date, but they have announced the series will return in autumn 2024 as usual.
Related articles
- Strictly star 'splits from husband' after 7 years as curse strikes again
- Strictly's Aljaz's big comeback announcement 'snubbed' by Giovanni Pernice
- Strictly investigation 'expands beyond Giovanni Pernice as wider issues emerge'
- Strictly bosses begged Aljaz to return and 'save show' after Giovanni exit
- Karen Hauer gives awkward answer about Giovanni Pernice's exit from Strictly