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Strictly news: Meet the celebrities who’ve turned down a spot on the show

And for a pretty varied bunch of reasons…

News of a celebrity taking part in Strictly Come Dancing fills us with glee and makes us wish we were famous so we could take part.

But not every famous person feels the same.

In fact, some have been asked to take part in the BBC dance show and turned it down.

Yes, really!

Take a look at some of the stars who clearly don’t fancy a tango with Giovanni or an American smooth with Aljaz.

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Bradley Walsh has been asked ‘a couple of times’ to do Strictly (Credit: Splash News)

Strictly news: The stars who turned the show down

Sadly there’s no chance of seeing The Chase star Bradley Walsh slipping on his dancing shoes.

He’s turned the show down – on numerous occasions.

Read more: Strictly fans demand Janette Manrara is given full-time It Takes Two job over Rylan Clark-Neal

He said he’s been asked “a couple of times” and admits he can’t dance to save his life.

“I’m not a dancer. I don’t even think I’m a good dad dancer. I’m a bad dad dancer, which makes things even worse,” he has said.

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John Torode won’t be following in Gregg Wallace’s footsteps and signing up for the show (Credit: Splash News)

Strictly is a no-no for John and Martin

His MasterChef pal Gregg Wallace has salsa’d his way into the Strictly ballroom, but John Torode won’t be following suit.

He told the Daily Star: “They asked me – I’d love to dance.

“But I’m not doing it. I’m not going to put myself under that sort of pressure. It’s not something I want to do… definitely not!”

Martin Kemp is another who blames his two left feet on why he won’t sign up for Strictly.

The ex-EastEnders star has admitted: “They ask me a lot but I can’t dance. There are some things I have to admit I can’t do.”

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Martin – who is married to wife Shirlie – has turned Strictly down numerous times (Credit: BBC)

Strictly news: Karren Brady asked ‘every year’

Strictly’s persistence doesn’t seem to be paying off with star of The Apprentice Karren Brady.

“I’ve been asked to Strictly a number of times. Every year actually,” she said.

Ex Great British Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc has also ruled it out.

“I love watching it so much I almost didn’t want to spoil the pleasure by being on it,” she told the Radio Times.

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Coronation Street star Alison King ‘didn’t fancy’ Strictly (Credit: Splash News)

Strictly news: Alison King ‘didn’t fancy it’

Coronation Street star Alison King gave a rather honest answer when she was asked to take part in the BBC dance show.

“I just didn’t fancy it,” she told the Radio Times.

Alan Titchmarsh
There’s no chance of Alan swapping his perennials for the Paso (Credit: Splash News)

Strictly news: It’s a no from Alan Titchmarsh

Sadly we won’t see Alan swapping his wallflowers for the waltz as he’s ruled out appearing on the show.

“My wife says my gardeners’ knees won’t take the lifts,” he said when asked if he’d ever take part.

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Dawn French fears she won’t be taken seriously (Credit: Splash News)

Comedian Dawn French doesn’t want to be ‘shot out of a cannon’

Dawn French revealed why she turned Strictly down on her podcast.

She explained: “They’ve approached me in a circling way before. The problem is if I did it, I’d want to do it and properly dance.

“At this age, you’re not taken seriously. Also if you’re from comedy, they want to shoot you out of a cannon like Ann Widdecombe and I don’t want that.

“I want the nicest dress, the most elegant other dancer and to take it seriously and nobody would want that.”

Mel C
Mel C turned down Strictly but is now on Dancing With the Stars (Credit: Splash News)

It’s a no from Mel C because of the Strictly pay

Mel C has admitted she’d like to do Strictly, but turns it down because of the money involved.

She told the Daily Star: “Strictly is really the only one of those shows that I would consider and I have had a meeting with them – they ask me every year to do it.”

However, she added that the pay cheque wasn’t really what she was expecting, using the S-word to describe the fee.

“The problem is if you do Strictly it’s so high profile and you’ll find yourself in the sidebar of shame every day. And the money’s [bleep]!”

However, Mel seems to have overcome the barriers as she’s now appearing on the American version of the show, Dancing With the Stars.

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Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday (October 16) at 7pm on BBC One.

Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us who you’d love to see on the show.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor