Strictly bosses ‘want Drag Race UK’s Baga Chipz’ for new series
Baga Chipz performs onstage at RuPaul’s DragCon UK. (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for World Of Wonder Productions)
Strictly Come Dancing is reportedly eyeing up RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Baga Chipz for this year’s season of the beloved BBC ballroom competition.
Bosses are, according to The Sun, eager to shake up the show’s typical mixed-sex pair format after lesbian boxer Nicola Adams and Katya Jones become the show’s first-ever same-sex dance partners last year.
Now, television insiders told the tabloid that both Drag Race UK star Baga Chipz, as well as season winner The Vivienne, are being teed up to make their Strictly debut.
“There’s been a real shift in thinking on this in recent years, with contests having same-sex partners appearing more and more,” they said to Rod McPhee for his Biz TV Column.
“But Strictly producers always try to do things a little bit differently, so they want to introduce a drag artist to shake up perceptions even further.
“It could mean that the drag artist in question performs dressed as a man or dressed as a woman – and that’s before considering whether they’re paired up with a male or female pro.
“There are endless possibilities, all of them exciting.”
As much as Adams and Jones only enjoyed a brief run on the show, the first episode they graced amassed the most viewers for a first live show in a decade. With a thumping 10 million tuning in to watch the same-sex couple on the dance floor.
Insiders previously claimed to The Sun that Strictly producers are aiming to have “two same-sex couples, one male and one female” for 2021’s season.
“The show has to move forward and viewers loved last year’s series,” they claimed in April.
Munroe Bergdorf, a model and author, has herself thrown her hat into the ring – or dancefloor, rather – as she expressed her hope to become the series’ first-ever openly trans contestant.
“I’ve always said that Strictly is the only one that I’ve got a desire to do,” she told the Make It Reign podcast earlier this year.
“I’ve got a plan. I want to get everything done that I want to achieve, then I can start doing those shows.
“It’s really exciting. I kind of feel that once you’re part of a reality TV show the general public starts shaping your narrative in a way that’s much more difficult for you to shape.
“So I don’t necessarily want to become public property in that way just yet.”
PinkNews contacted the BBC for comment.
