Scott Mills: ‘I don’t have to dance with a man because I’m gay’
By Josh Haggis
Scott Mills has dismissed suggestions that he should have a male partner on Strictly Come Dancing because he is gay.
The Radio 1 DJ, who will dance with newcomer Joanne Clifton when the series returns tomorrow night (September 26), has previously insisted that the dancing contest isn’t homophobic for pairing him with a female partner. Find out what he had to say here.
Now Mills, 40, has addressed the issue again, telling Metro that he doesn’t have to dance with a male partner “just because he’s gay”, and pointing out that there were no complaints when fashion designer Julien MacDonald, who is also gay, was paired with a female dancer on last year’s contest.
“I don’t know where that came from,” he said of suggestions he should dance with a male partner. “It doesn’t bother me either. Other gay people have done the show, like Julien MacDonald last year, and no one said he should have a male dancer. I don’t know why it’s happened with me. I’ll do what the producers want me to do. You don’t have to dance with a man because you’re gay.”
Asked whether becoming the first contestant to dance with a same-sex partner would put “undue pressure” on him, Mills replied: “I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s even an issue. I wouldn’t mind being the first male contestant to have a male dancer, and in this day and age, I don’t see why it should put pressure on people.”
Strictly Come Dancing will return to screens tomorrow night (September 26), as the couples take to the dancefloor for the first time.
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