Judge Rinder invited to appear on Strictly Come Dancing with a same-sex partner
Rob Rinder on Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 (YouTube/BBC)
The gay barrister and TV personality Rob Rinder has been offered a same-sex dance on Strictly Come Dancing‘s upcoming Christmas special.
The prime time ballroom dancing show has made tentative steps towards LGBT+ inclusivity with one professional same-sex dance, but has yet to introduce one in the actual competition.
As Dancing on Ice storms ahead with Ian ‘H’ Watkins and Matt Evers‘ incredible same-sex skating duo, Strictly is still dragging its feet, with Waktins reportedly being told: “The BBC doesnāt do that, itās not us.”
But according to Rob Rinder, they may be getting just a teensy bit closer.
“I was offered next year’s Christmas special with a same-sex dancer,” he told OK! magazine. “I’d do anything. I’ve danced on stage with Anton du Beke for a Grenfell Tower benefit.
“Ultimately a same-sex couple is inevitable,” he added.
Rinder, 41, finished in fifth place during the 14th series of Strictly in 2016, but he had to dance with a female partner, Oksana.
While he’s now happy to be offered a male dance partner, he has previously expressed his annoyance at people asking him if he thinks same-sex dances should be included on the show.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly in 2017, he said: “Itās a perfectly reasonable question, I completely understand why people are asking it. It was the first question I was asked by everybody.
“First of all, itās a sport,” he continued. “Nobody was asking me to get married to my partner, or to engage in any sort ofā¦ geography with her. They wanted me to dance with her.
“I donāt think itās going to make any difference to the life of any young person ā and there are a lot of young people that find it very difficult to come out in the LGBTQI community ā if she dances with an almost straight woman.
“But there are amazing charities that do need our assistance, whether she dances with a man or not is going to make no difference to anybody.”
