Same-sex dance couple make history as they’re crowned winners of Danish ‘Dancing with the Stars’
Take note, Strictly Come Dancing...
By Will Stroude
A same-sex dance couple competing on the Danish version of Dancing with the Stars have made history by becoming the first such pairing to win the competition.
Actor comedian Jakob Fauerby, 42, and his dancing partner Silas Holst, 36, were crowned winners of Vild med dans, the Danish edition of the TV ballroom dancing series, last Friday (29 November).
Fauerby and Holst, who are both gay, had dominated the scoring during the live shows and were the bookies’ favourites going into the final, putting paid to the idea that same-sex pairings cannot work on the series, which traditionally features opposite-sex pairings.
“We would not have stood here if Denmark did not have an open mind and also had courage and dared to do so,” Holst told BT following the pair’s victory (quotes via Out).
“It’s a sense of pride, the pride of diversity, and the Danes.”
The victory is likely to add to growing pressure on BBC bossses to allow contestants on Strictly Come Dancing to choose the gender of their professional partner, which the broacaster so-far resisting calls to shake up the format to reflect the diversity of its contestants.
The series has however been making steps to represent to power of same-sex dance, with professional dancers Johannes Radebe and Graziano Di Prima taking to the stage together last month.
The pair’s emotional routine was widely praised on social media by viewers, though Ofcom later provided a stark reminder of the bigotry that still exists in Britain after revealing they had received almost 200 complaints about the segment.