Some Strictly stars have some experience before them, but is this “cheating”? From West End work to latin competitions in the early 1980s?
Whether it’s Amber Davies work on the stages of the West End, Lewis Cope and Karen Carney’s childhood dance competitions or Scarlett Moffat’s ballroom and latin training, fans have been arguing about whether prior dance experience counts as “cheating” on Strictly Come Dancing.
Throughout 2025’s series, there has been controversy surrounding whether or not celebs should be allowed to compete on the dance show if they have prior experience. Lewis Cope was at the centre of such drama early on in the series as fellow celeb Chris Robshaw’s wife seemed to suggest the Emmerdale star’s hip hop training was unfair to her husband.
“Proud forever. Up against people with years of experience when you’ve never even done a 2 step, opening the whole season and starting with one of the hardest dances going,” Camilla wrote on Instagram.
She also responded to a comment from former Love Island star Amber Gill, who said: “Unpopular opinion: I think having people with so much dance experience is unfair.”
But another fan said: “Controversial take, but I actually really love it when a contestant has dance experience. You get to see some really amazing iconic dances that we just wouldn’t have otherwise.” If you can’t see the poll below, click here.
Lewis’ experience was joined by Amber Davies’ theatre dance training and winner Karen’s childhood hip hop competitions. Some fans called the trio’s prior dance training “cheating”, especially when they all made the quarter final. One wrote: “As brilliant as they are, these three competing against people who’d never danced before the show, isn’t fair.”
Others said the dancers had more experience, but the performance was better. One commentator said that “watching this show is exciting because they can dance next to professionals without looking out of place or behind them.”
Strictly’s Christmas special winner Scarlett Moffatt was also accused of cheating after she revealed she’d done ballroom and Latin competitions as a child. Though Scarlett has said she’d never do the main show because of her experience, she did defend her appearance in the Christmas episode.
She described dancing as a child to The Sun. They really hyped me up, I believe. I enjoy dancing, but I was a young girl when I first started out. I’m now 35. She said, “I did dance, but it was a long time ago.”
What do you think? Should celebs with dance experience be banned from Strictly? Take our poll and have your say in the comments below.
Source: Mirror
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