Dancings

After Strictly Come Dancing announced Love Island winner and dancer Cach Mercer as the fifth contestant for 2026’s line-up, several fans of the BBC show were angered to discover he already has dance experience

Strictly Come Dancing have announced Love Island winner Cach Mercer as part of their 2026 line-up – but some fans are up in arms because he already has dance experience.

Cach, who won Love Island last year, was the fifth contestant announced for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. But, according to charity Young Minds, of which Cach is an ambassador, the star is a “professional dancer from East London”.

The Love Island star appears to have training in Hip Hop and Afrobeats and regularly posts videos of himself dancing online. In many of these videos, he has choreographed his own dance moves. He has also taught a dance classes for places such as dance event Move It and Platinum Performing Arts.

After discovering that the latest Strictly celeb had dance experience several fans were upset. One wrote on Instagram: “Had to google who he was, and the first thing that came up was ‘professional dancer’!!!”

Another added: “A professional dancer? How is he getting on as a celeb then?” A third said it gave “such an advantage when they’re already dancers” and that it was “extremely unfair to the other contestants”.

A fourth hilariously thought Strictly’s post about Cach joining the show was intended to announce a new pro dancer. “Oooh he’s a professional dancer!” they wrote. “So we are get getting some new pros this year!” The fan quickly added: “Oh wait no, this says celebrity reveal. He’s a Love Islander and professional dancer. I might just delete all this.”

But, other fans defended Cach, pointing out that many celebs who have competed on the show had dance experience and that Cach’s training was not in ballroom or latin.

“He’s trained in hip-hop and afrobeats. He’s never done ballroom or latin, never been to a stage school and never danced with a partner,” one said. “So he’s well within the rules of the show.”

Another continued: “When so many contestants have been to stage school and done musical theatre etc, it is well past time that we stopped calling people out for having previous dance experience.”

Every year there seems to be at least one celeb contestant who fans say should not be on the show due to their prior dance experience and/or training. Last year, both Emmerdale star Lewis Cope and Love Island winner Amber Davies came under fire for doing the show whilst having dance training.

Amber, who dances in musical theatre shows, responded to the backlash with: “We see the same thing over and over again and I feel like it doesn’t matter what I say or how I feel, if I’m struggling, people will of course have things to say because I do musical theatre.

“I have worked my a**e off to be taken seriously in the musical theatre world, and I feel like I have been working so hard. The musical theatre world is actually quite small so once you work hard, you are committed, consistent in your job and are a good company member, you can build your reputation quite quickly within the industry.”

Meanwhile, Lewis, who danced as a child and got to three dance world championships, said to Metro: “I don’t really know where all that came from, to be honest. I trained as an actor, I danced a bit when I was a teen, but haven’t since. It’s only ever really been acting for me for a long, long time – so I don’t really know where that came from. I don’t really take notice of it, though – everyone’s so strong, and anyone can pull out a brilliant performance at any point.

“To call me professionally trained or a professional dancer seems a bit bizarre, especially now that I’m working with these pros on the show. It’s kind of an insult to them, really, to suggest I’m on their level when they’ve dedicated their lives to becoming as brilliant as they are.”

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Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe is reportedly set to join telly favourite Emma Willis as the second presenter of the BBC dancing competition

A Strictly Come Dancing star is set to become the latest presenter. Fan favourite Johannes Radebe is being lined up to join telly star Emma Willis as the next dynamic duo to front the show.

It’s claimed that Johannes, whose nickname is JoJo, left bosses with no other option but to sign him up after the recent auditions to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

Since Tess and Claudia announced their departure, the show’s bosses have been scrambling to find a replacement, with dozens of familiar faces lining up to audition for the role. Emma Willis was one of the top choices, with sources saying she “nailed the chemistry tests and the BBC adore her”.

And Johannes is so well-liked that even the celebrities are saying the job is as good as his. A source told The Sun: “During the chemistry tests he was paired up with every other celeb and did incredibly well. They all think he would be the perfect partner for Emma.”

A source went on to explain that while the professional dancers have already been announced, including Johannes, that doesn’t mean he won’t get the promotion. His role, according to sources, is currently being figured out after bosses were said to be considering bringing in three new people.

Johannes could even be a roving reporter for the show. “He knows the dances better than anyone and is incredibly popular with Strictly fans,” the source said. They added: “Whether he’s going to be a host like Emma or take a slightly different presenting role is being ironed out.”

The South African-born star joined the BBC show in 2018 and, since then, has danced with the likes of Annabel Croft, Catherine Tyldesley and Alex Kingston. He and John Waite became the first same-sex partnership to reach the live final in 2021.

Meanwhile, Josh Widdicombe is also reportedly still being considered as a presenter for the programme. An announcement is expected in the coming days.

Zoe Ball, who had been a firm front-runner for the job, recently said she was “grieving” after missing out. Zoe competed on the show in 2005, before returning in 2011 to front Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, until she departed in 2020.

In the latest episode of her Dig It podcast, Zoe put on a brave face as she said she was thrilled to be “in the mix” of presenters who were invited to audition. “I didn’t get it, but it’s okay,” said Zoe. “I have worked through the seven stages of grief and rejection over the last couple of days. I was so chuffed to even be in the mix. There were some pretty amazing people who didn’t even make it into the mix.

“So I made it in the mix, and I had a really fun time having one last little play at a show that I love and adore. And I’m so thrilled for the gang that has got it. I think there’s been so many eyes on this whole process, everyone’s quite relieved now that a decision has been made and the right ­decision has been made.” She added that the show was in “safe hands”.

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