Strictly Come Dancing fans want Nicola Adams and Katya Jones to stop performing as ‘gal pals’
Nicola Adams (L) and her Strictly Come Dancing partner, Katya Jones. (Strictly Come Dancing/BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing fans are calling for a “romantic” dance from Nicola Adams and Katya Jones, insisting their performances so far paint them as “gal pals” and “besties at the club”.
Fans of the show have noticed that Nicola Adams and Katya Jones, Strictly Come Dancing‘s first-ever same-sex dance partners, have been avoiding “any kind of romantic dance”.
The first three weeks of the 18th series have seen the two women perform lighthearted dances including a quickstep, jive and hiphop routine.
#Strictly really doing a good job of delaying Nicola and Katya having to do any kind of romantic dance
— Martin (@artschoolwank) November 7, 2020
One fan wrote on Twitter: “I hope Nicola and Katya get an opportunity to do a romantic dance because that would really mean the world to us sapphic girls wanting the representation, and would also give them a chance to show us all their chemistry as a couple.
“It’s also a fat double standard to have all the straight couples doing dances of an intimate, romantic nature and then have Nicola and Katya dancing as besties at the club every week.”
it’s a also a fat double standard to have all the straight couples doing dances of an intimate, romantic nature and then have nicola & katya dancing as besties at the club every week— not that poppy (@poppyharnett) November 8, 2020
“I wanna see Katya and Nicola do something overtly romantic,” said another. “I want them to do a dance that cannot be misconstrued as gals being pals.”
I wanna see Katya and Nicola do something overtly romantic. I want them to do a dance that cannot be misconstrued as gals being pals.— Hannah ? (@bunchahannah) November 7, 2020
#StrictlyComeDancing Are Nicola and Katya going to show some intimacy and actually touch each other? All feels very “safe”. They look like two friends. Where’s the romance?— Claire Glendenning (@DarkCorners26) October 31, 2020
Queer magazine Women Like Us suggested that the platonic routines were a tactic to change the minds of homophobes early on in the series.
“Clever to have Nicola and Katya dancing like gal pals early in the Strictly season,” it wrote on Twitter.
“Get the public onside then swoop in with a sizzling tango. I hope that’s the plan??”
Millions tuned in to watch Nicola Adams and Katya Jones’ Strictly debut.
Nicola Adams and her partner Katya Jones made history on 24 October by becoming the first competitive same-sex couple to take to the Strictly ballroom floor.
Despite warnings of a homophobic boycott by the likes of Ann Widdecombe, millions more tuned in to watch Nicola and Katya’s first dance – as well as the other 11 couples – than did last year.
Strictly topped ratings with 10.1 million viewers at its peak. That’s 1.6 million more than the peak of last year’s first live show, which drew 8.5 million, and slightly more than the 10 million peak of 2018’s first live show.
