Ex-Strictly star James Jordan: It doesn’t make me homophobic to not want same-sex dance couples
Former Strictly Come Dancing star James Jordan has insisted it wasn’t homophobic to claim that same-sex dance couples will lead to lower ratings.
to date, only opposite-sex couples have competed in the popular BBC dance show, which pairs celebrities up with professional dancers – but judge Craig Revel Horwood recently confirmed changes will take place in the next two seasons to remove the gender rules.
James Jordan – who was dropped from the show last year – claimed: “It’s wrong. I think they would lose so many viewers.
“I have nothing against same-sex couples, if they want to go and do their own competitions.
“But ballroom and Latin dancing is about a man dancing with a woman – that’s fact.”
He defended his comments while appearing on This Morning, claiming: “It doesn’t make me homophobic at all, it’s just something I feel very strongly about.
“It’s easy for Craig [Revel Horwood] to say he wants to see a same-sex couple.
“But he’s not from my world, he’s from the theatre world, he’s not a ballroom or Latin dancer, I am. And so I have a right to say whether or not I agree with it.”
He continued: “I think there’s a lot of people who would agree with me that they wouldn’t want to see two same-sex people dancing on the show.
“It would be a joke couple, people wouldn’t take it seriously. It would have to be a comedy value.”
When his wife Ola Jordan – who still appears on the show – was asked if she agreed with him, she said flatly “no”.
