Strictly Come Dancing professional Aljaž reveals he’s open to having a male dance partner
By Joshua Haigh
Strictly Come Dancing professional Aljaž has weighed in on the same-sex dance partners debate.
Talk of same-sex couples for LGBT+ contestants on the BBC dancing series has swirled in recent years. Chatter became more intense last year, after fellow contestant Susan Calman, who is openly gay, spoke about being partnered with a male dancer.
In a new interview, dancer Aljaž has spoken out about the debate for the first time, revealing that he doesn’t care whether he’s partnered with a man or a woman.
He told HuffPost UK: “I’ve never actually spoken about it that much, but I’m always going to come in and do the best job I can. It doesn’t matter who it is or what sex they are.
He continued: ″‘Strictly’ has been so successful because it has been the same for the last 14 years and the formula hasn’t changed, so we all trust the producers 100%.
“It’s one of the few shows on television that is done with a positive thought behind it. If they do decide to go down that road, it will be with the most positive intention, so we will follow their lead
“Hopefully we will be there when it does happen,” added the dancer.
Last year, former Strictly contestant Judge Rinder hit back at calls for same-sex dance partners, claiming that it “wouldn’t make a difference” at all to the LGBT+ community.
“I don’t think it will make any difference to the lives of any young people, who find it difficult to come out from [the] LGBTI community, whether Susan dances with an almost straight woman.”
He added: “People need to worry about the more serious issues in this world like how we can cure cancer. That’s a real problem – not whether or not Susan Calman dances with a woman. That isn’t something we need to worry about.”