Candidates vying to develop into the new Strictly Come Dancing presenters face BBC “vetting” to avoid future scandals, in a transfer that can ship “shivers” by way of the showbusiness world, insiders have mentioned.
Nine potential successors to Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly are this week being put by way of their paces in a full-scale reconstruction of a reside Strictly Come Dancing episode.
Emma Willis, Rylan Clark, Zoe Ball and Tom Allen are amongst the names mentioned to be collaborating in auditions to find which pairing of leisure stars has the wit, sparkle and private chemistry required to steer the “jewel in the BBC’s crown” into a brand new period.
Over the previous week, they’ve been requested to carry out in entrance of a judging panel and a reside band, in accordance with studies, and have all signed non-disclosure agreements concerning the “chemistry tests” going down at a secret location.
But the contenders have to leap by way of a further hoop – the presenters now face being “vetted” as the BBC seeks to verify it isn’t plunged into additional scandal following the sacking of Scott Mills.
The BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show DJ was dismissed after the company mentioned it found new details about allegations of a historic sexual offence, first investigated in 2017, over which no costs had been introduced.
‘Nerves about Strictly’
An insider mentioned: “The presenters in the mix have been told they will have to answer questions in a vetting-style process. This is the BBC’s biggest family show and there are a lot of nerves because Strictly has faced so many controversies in recent years.”
The particular person added: “There has always been a form of vetting on Strictly. With so many of the professional dancers coming from abroad, the show has to check that they have the right paperwork and certifications.”
It is normal observe for the manufacturing groups behind superstar reveals like Strictly to trawl by way of the social media of expertise collaborating for any historic posts prone to trigger offence. Because the Strictly hopefuls are already well-known, there are unlikely to be any bombshells of their on-line exercise.
But the Mills affair has made the BBC extra cautious about making high-profile expertise appointments, together with the DJ’s substitute on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
One senior determine mentioned: “Sara Cox was the safe move to make. They will have wanted a woman after Mills and someone without a hint that there was anything in their past to be discovered.”
‘Celebs may prefer not to work for BBC’
One expertise agent mentioned: “If it’s normal employer checks like Disclosure and Barring Service (for a legal file or police reprimands), that’s one factor. But a deep trawl to search out one thing embarrassing that may ship a shiver by way of the showbusiness world.
“A lot of celebrities have a past or have done risky or unwise things. They are still entitled to private lives. It might mean they prefer not to work for the BBC if it means a level of intrusion.”
There was some aid for Strictly not too long ago when police mentioned an investigation right into a star identify on the present, arrested on suspicion of rape, might be shut down due to “insufficient evidence” to pursue a prosecution.
But the present has weathered bullying allegations in opposition to professional dancer Giovanni Pernice (partially upheld after an inquiry), the sacking of dancer Graziano Di Prima for allegedly kicking his superstar accomplice, a reprimand for contestant Wynne Evans for allegedly making sexualised feedback to a feminine dancer, in addition to allegations of alleged cocaine use by two stars.
With a lot driving on the Strictly host choice – incoming BBC director-general Matt Brittin is known to be taking an in depth curiosity in the course of – business figures imagine it’s smart for the BBC to rattle the cabinets for any skeletons.
Widely admired inside the BBC for his radio and TV work, Clark might be seen as a dangerous selection for Strictly. He prompted a social media backlash after saying on reside TV that migrants arriving in the UK on small boats had been informed “have a lovely time and welcome” by the authorities.
A Strictly supply mentioned: “Like all other broadcasters and streamers, it is standard practice that production companies making shows for them are required to undertake vetting processes which are always kept under review.”
The BBC didn’t reply to requests to debate the nature of the vetting or whether or not an exterior vetting group had been introduced in to query the Strictly contenders.
The stars competing to land a job on the present are understood to be Willis, Clark, Ball, Allen, Angela Scanlon, Alex Jones, Alison Hammond, Mel Giedroyc and Fleur East.
